I DO not agree with the letter, 'ATM information' (April 11). It informs recipients that in the event of a robbery that forces the victim to withdraw money from their ATM, the police can be secretly alerted by entering the PIN in reverse.

There are claims that this kind of technology does exist; however, none of the banking institutions has actually implemented it. Therefore, the chances of the victim alerting the police by entering their PIN in reverse are apparently slim.

Joseph Zinger, the man behind the idea, has developed ATM software called SafetyPIN back in 1994. And since then, he had been attempting to sell the idea to US banks but without success.

In 2004, legislation was passed in the state of Illinois requesting banks to use the said technology, though it is not a requirement.

The move in implementing this reverse PIN security scheme is still ongoing; however, it is not advisable to abide by such advice, since the possibility of trying out this method on banks without the system installed could further endanger the lives of the victims, as it could cause withdrawal delay. This gives criminals enough reason for further implication of violence.

Apparently this isn't even logical to develop such a solution, what if my PIN is palindrome e.g. 3443 or 4444. Would I always alert the law-enforcement agencies or would never be able to do so even if I need to? It only takes a minute or two to make a transaction, then the robber runs away. What would you say, “He ran that way about 15 minutes ago, officer”? How useless is that?

BABAR SHEHZAD
Karachi