P1 PIN blocks

Needs: Supporter

Lesson P1: ISO 9564 formats 0 to 4: building, encrypting, decoding and translating PIN blocks.

This is a supporter feature. Create a free account, then try every supporter feature free for 7 days.

Sign in

Create a free account

See plans

The opening of the lesson

Why it matters

The PIN is the most protected value in a payment. It is never sent alone: it is packed into a PIN block (ISO 9564-1), encrypted in the PIN pad, and only ever decrypted inside an HSM. Every PIN-handling component must build, encrypt or translate PIN blocks exactly as its partner expects:

PIN pads;
terminal applications;
acquirer hosts;
switches;
issuer systems.

In the full lesson

The concept
Step by step: ISO 0
Translation
In the real world
Common mistakes
What to test

What module P1 covers →

The rest of the lesson opens with a supporter pass, which you can try free for 7 days.