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Inventor of ATM PIN to be honored at Harvard

March 19, 2013

James Goodfellow, the Scot who invented the PIN number in 1965, will be honored this Thursday during an awards dinner and ceremony at Harvard University, where he will be entered in the payments hall of fame.

Goodfellow, now 75, received only £10 ($15.12) for his invention, which he developed for an employer. When he was laid off due to "redundancy," he signed over patent rights to the company.

The inventor bears no ill will about losing rights to the patent, according to the Daily Record.

"I never made any money out of my invention but I'm quite happy just knowing that it was me that invented it," Goodfellow told the publication. However, he did express great pleasure that he would be recognized with the award at Harvard. 

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