9F17
Personal Identification Number (PIN) Try CounterPIN Try Counter is the card's own running count of how many offline PIN attempts remain before it locks PIN verification out entirely - a single byte, decremented by the card itself on each failed attempt and typically reset only by a successful online PIN or an issuer script. Because it lives on the card rather than in any terminal or host log, it's the authoritative number: a terminal or host record of 'how many PIN attempts this card has left' is only ever an inference, while 9F17 is the card stating it directly. It's grouped with the Application Transaction Counter (9F36) as part of the same card-side risk-state family - one meters verification attempts, the other meters transactions - and a support engineer facing a cardholder who insists they 'just tried once' should treat 9F17 as the source of truth over the terminal's own attempt log, since a botched card removal mid-verification, or a terminal retry the cardholder didn't perceive as a distinct attempt, are common ways the two disagree. See EMV 4.4 Book 3.
Interactive decoder
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Binary (1): 03
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Decoded example
Example value: 03
Related tags
Properties
| Tag | 9F17 |
|---|---|
| Name | Personal Identification Number (PIN) Try Counter |
| Format | Binary |
| Length | 1 bytes |
| Source | Card (ICC) |
| Templates | — |
| Books | EMV 4.4 Book 3 |
Frequently asked questions
- What is EMV tag 9F17?
- PIN Try Counter is the card's own running count of how many offline PIN attempts remain before it locks PIN verification out entirely - a single byte, decremented by the card itself on each failed attempt and typically reset only by a successful online PIN or an issuer script. Because it lives on the card rather than in any terminal or host log, it's the authoritative number: a terminal or host record of 'how many PIN attempts this card has left' is only ever an inference, while 9F17 is the card stating it directly. It's grouped with the Application Transaction Counter (9F36) as part of the same card-side risk-state family - one meters verification attempts, the other meters transactions - and a support engineer facing a cardholder who insists they 'just tried once' should treat 9F17 as the source of truth over the terminal's own attempt log, since a botched card removal mid-verification, or a terminal retry the cardholder didn't perceive as a distinct attempt, are common ways the two disagree. See EMV 4.4 Book 3.
- What format and length does EMV tag 9F17 use?
- Tag 9F17 uses the Binary format and is normally 1 bytes long.
- Is tag 9F17 provided by the card or the terminal?
- Tag 9F17 (Personal Identification Number (PIN) Try Counter) is provided by the Card (ICC).
Sources
- EMV_v4.4_Book_3_Application_Specification, p. 153
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