Sep
19
2014
September 19th, 2014 by Elma Jane

CREDIT CARD NUMBER’S ANATOMY

The numbers on front of a credit card aren’t just random. They give away specific information about the card and where it comes from.

The first 6 digits of the credit card number is the Bank Identification number (BIN). This will tell the name of the credit card issuer.

Example: Travel or entertainment cards, such as American Express  cards, begin with a 3 . All Visa credit cards start with a 4, MasterCard with a 5, and 6 is dedicated to Discover.

The first six digits of the card, including the Bank Identification number, represent the issuer identification number. This identifies the bank that issued the card.

Of course, there’s the personal account number. This is made up of the seventh digit on, everything except the last number on the card.

The final digit on the credit card is known as the check digit or checksum. This number is set by something called the Luhn formula, patented by an IBM scientist in 1960. It’s a formula that uses the numerals in your card’s account number to verify that it’s valid. Various combinations of the card’s digits must ultimately add up to a number divisible by 10.

The formula is mostly used to protect against input errors. Let’s say you enter in the wrong numbers on an online shopping site. The formula will compute that the digits don’t add up right, telling you you’ve entered an invalid card number. That last digit of your credit card makes sure the formula works like it’s supposed to.

Now you know that there’s a lot of information on that little card in the wallet.

Posted in Best Practices for Merchants, EMV EuroPay MasterCard Visa, Visa MasterCard American Express Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,