Consumers worldwide worry about card fraud while many of them still carry PINs with them.

These are among the findings of a December survey of 4,200 respondents in 14 countries that was sponsored by payments processor ACI Worldwide, which said the findings highlighted both fraud fears and the need for fraud prevention education.

The survey found that 21% of the Italian respondents said they had carried their card PIN with them–a violation of a “cardinal rule” of card safety, the company said–a number that rose to 23% in India and 27% in China.

Meanwhile, only 10% of American respondents said they carried PIN numbers while nearly 20% said they still throw bank statements and receipts in the trash can, ACI said.

“When it comes to fraud, prevention is obviously better than a cure. Financial institutions need to continue to inform consumers about how they can protect themselves against fraud,” said Jasbir Anand, lead solutions consultant at ACI Worldwide.

The online survey was conducted by Research Now in December and included 300 respondents each from Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Dubai, France, Germany, India, Italy, Netherlands, Singapore, Sweden, Great Britain and the United States.

ACI Worldwide's Americas headquarters is in Elkhorn, Neb., and the company said it provides more than 800 customers with payment processing, risk management, back-office automation and application infrastructure services.