Abstract: A method and apparatus for use with automatic dispensing type machines of the type which are activated by a customer's coded credit card. The method and apparatus are directed to the changing of an encoded access number, generally referred to as a secret number, which number is recorded on the customer's credit card and which number the customer has to remember in order to activate the machine. The secret number is changed at the customer's request to one that the customer selects for ease of remembering.In order to initiate the change a supervisor control card is inserted into the dispensing machine and the coded message on the control card informs the machine that a change in the secret number of a customer's credit card is to be performed. The control card is removed and the customer's card is inserted. The customer card is checked for validity, and the customer's account is identified. A keyboard is activated with the new secret number which secret number is then encoded onto the customer's credit card.