Credit cards and PINs (2)

I've already posted about the fact that we'll all be supposed to use PINs when we use our credit cards from later in the year.

One bank is wasting no time in "encouraging" this move.  Within days of the news about the need to use PINs, I received a letter from the bank stating "We've noticed that you currently do not use your PIN with ...[the particular credit card]".   So the letter set out my PIN number.

True, I may not have used the PIN on this card - but I haven't used it for transactions where I sign, either.  The reason I've never used a PIN with this credit card is that I use the card as a "back-up", mostly for on-line transactions.   I don't generally use it for transactions where I am asked to sign.  Perhaps I'll make an effort to use it for a normal purchase just so the bank's computer has a record that I have in fact used the PIN.

On a similar note, I wonder how long it will be before cheques are phased out?  It was announced some time ago that they were to be on the way out in Britain, although later reports seem to suggest that they might last a little longer than originally intended (although "for as long as customers need them" sounds very vague to me!)