Payment card number

A payment card number, or simply a card number, is the card identifier found on payment cards, such as credit cards and debit cards, as well as stored-value cards, gift cards and other similar cards. In some situations the card number is referred to as a bank card number. The card number is merely a card identifier and does not identify the account to which it is linked by the issuing company, nor does it identify the cardholder. The card number identifies the issuer of the card, which is then electronically associated by the issuing organization with one of its customers and then to the customer's designated bank accounts. In the case of stored-value type cards, there is no necessary association with a particular customer. Card numbers are allocated in accordance with ISO/IEC 7812. The card number is usually prominently embossed on the front of a payment card.

The payment card number differs from the Bank Identifier Code (BIC/ISO 9362, a normalized code—also known as Business Identifier Code, Bank International Code, and SWIFT code). It also differs from Universal Payment Identification Code, another identifier for a bank account in the United States.

Structure

The leading six digits of the card number is the "issuer identification number (IIN)", sometimes referred to as the "bank identification number (BIN)". The remaining numbers on the card are referred to as the primary account number or PAN. IINs and PANS have a certain level of internal structure and share a common numbering scheme set by ISO/IEC 7812. Payment card numbers can be up to 19 digits, as follows:

• a six-digit^[1] Issuer Identification Number (IIN), the first digit of which is the Major Industry Identifier (MII)
• a variable length (up to 12 digits) individual account identifier
• a single check digit calculated using the Luhn algorithm^[2]

Issuer identification number (IIN)

Partial IIN on a credit card (both printed and embossed)

The first six digits of a card number (including the initial MII digit) are known as the issuer identification number (IIN). These identify the card issuing institution that issued the card to the card holder. The rest of the number is allocated by the card issuer. The card number's length is its number of digits. Many card issuers print the entire IIN and account number on their card.

In the United States, IINs are also used in NCPDP pharmacy claims to identify processors, and are printed on all pharmacy insurance cards. IINs are the primary routing mechanism for real-time claims.

The ISO Register of Issuer Identification Numbers database is managed by the American Bankers Association. ABA is the Registration Authority for this standard and is responsible for allocating IINs to issuers.

Online merchants may use IIN lookups to help validate transactions. For example, if a card's IIN indicates a bank in one country, while the customer's billing address is in another, the transaction may call for extra scrutiny.

Issuing network	IIN ranges	Active	Length	Validation
American Express	34, 37[3]	Yes	15[4]	Luhn algorithm
Bankcard[5]	5610, 560221-560225	No	16	Luhn algorithm
China UnionPay	62[6]	Yes	16-19	Luhn algorithm
Diners Club Carte Blanche	300-305	Yes	14	Luhn algorithm
Diners Club enRoute	2014, 2149	No	15	no validation
Diners Club International[7]	300-305, 309, 36	Yes	14	Luhn algorithm
	38-39[8]	Yes	14	Luhn algorithm
Diners Club United States & Canada[9]	54, 55 (MasterCard co-branded)	Yes	16	Luhn algorithm
Discover Card[10]	6011, 622126-622925, 644-649, 65	Yes	16, 19	Luhn algorithm
InterPayment	636	Yes	16-19	Luhn algorithm
InstaPayment	637-639	Yes	16	Luhn algorithm
JCB	3528-3589[11]	Yes	16	Luhn algorithm
Laser	6304, 6706, 6771, 6709	No[12]	16-19	Luhn algorithm
Maestro	50, 56-69	Yes	12-19[13]	Luhn algorithm
Dankort	5019	Yes	16	Luhn algorithm
	4XXX, 4175, 4571 (Visa co-branded)	Yes	16	Luhn algorithm
NSPK MIR	2200 - 2204	Yes	16	Luhn algorithm
MasterCard	2221-2720	Yes 2017-[14]	16	Luhn algorithm
	51-55	Yes	16	Luhn algorithm
Solo	6334, 6767	No	16, 18, 19	Luhn algorithm
Switch	4903, 4905, 4911, 4936, 564182, 633110, 6333, 6759	No	16, 18, 19	Luhn algorithm
Visa	4 (including related/partner brands: Dankort, Electron, etc.)	Yes	13, 16, 19	Luhn algorithm
UATP	1	Yes	15	Luhn algorithm
Verve	506099-506198, 650002-650027	Yes	16, 19	Luhn algorithm
CARDGUARD EAD BG ILS	5392	Yes	16	Luhn algorithm

On November 8, 2004, MasterCard and Diners Club formed an alliance. Diners Club cards issued in Canada and the United States start with 54 or 55 and are treated as MasterCards worldwide. International cards use the 36 prefix and are treated as MasterCards in Canada and the United States, but are treated as Diners Club cards elsewhere. Diners Club International's web site makes no reference to old 38 prefix numbers, and they can be presumed reissued under the 55 or 36 IIN prefix. Effective October 16, 2009, Diners Club cards beginning with 30, 36, 38 or 39 have been processed by Discover Card.^[15]

On November 3, 2014, MasterCard announced that they were introducing a new series of BIN ranges that begin with a “2” (222100–272099). The “2” series BINs will be processed the same as the “51–55” series BINs are today. They became active 14 October 2016.

On July 23, 2014 JSC NSPK was established in the Russian Federation. The joint stock company National System of Payment Cards (NSPK) is the operator of the Mir National Payment System. The main initiatives of NSPK are to create the national payment system infrastructure and to issue a national payment card Mir.

Effective October 1, 2006, Discover began using the entire 65 prefix, not just 650. Also, similar to the MasterCard/Diners agreement, China Union Pay cards are now treated as Discover cards and accepted on the Discover network.

While the vast majority of Visa's account ranges describe 16 digit card numbers there are still a few (40 as of 11 Dec. 2013) account ranges dedicated to 13 digit PANs and several (439 as of 11 Dec. 2013) account ranges where the issuer can mix 13 and 16 digit card numbers. Visa's VPay brand can specify PAN lengths from 13 to 19 digits and so card numbers of more than 16 digits are now being seen.

Switch was re-branded as Maestro in mid-2007.^[16] In 2011, UK Domestic Maestro (formerly Switch) was aligned with the standard international Maestro proposition with the retention of a few residual country specific rules.

EMV Certification requires acceptance of a 19-digit Visa card (ADVT 6.1.1 Test Case 2) and Discover Card (E2E Test Plan v1.3, Test Case 06).

Canadian bank card numbering

Bank card numbers issued by Canadian banks also follow a pattern for their systems:

Issuing network	Ranges	Length
CIBC Convenience Card	4506	16 digits
Royal Bank of Canada Client Card	45	16 digits
TD Canada Trust Access Card	589297 (regular debit)	19 digits
Scotiabank Scotia Card	4536	16 digits
BMO ABM Card	500	16 digits
HSBC Canada Card	56	16 digits

Security measures

To reduce the risk of credit card fraud, various techniques are used to prevent the dissemination of bank card numbers. These include:

• Format-preserving encryption: in which the account number is replaced with a strongly encrypted version which retains the format of the card data including non sensitive parts of the field such as first six and last four digits. This permits data field protection without changing payment IT systems and applications. A common use is for protecting card data from the point of capture in a secure reader to the payment processing host end-to-end to mitigate risk of data compromise in systems such as the Point of Sale (POS). AES-FF1 Format-Preserving Encryption is defined in NIST Specification SP800-38G.
• PAN truncation: in which only some of the digits on a card are displayed or printed on receipts. The PCI DSS standard dictates that only the first six and last four digits of the PAN may be printed on a receipt or displayed in cases other than where a business need requires the full PAN. US federal law (FACTA) allows only the display of the last 5 digits. In order to comply with both PCI DSS requirements and US federal law, generally only the last four digits are provided elsewhere to allow an individual to identify the card used.
• Tokenization: in which an artificial account number (token) is printed, stored or transmitted in place of the true account number.

See also

• Bank account
• Carding (fraud)
• Card security code
• International Bank Account Number
• Routing transit number
• ISO 9362—SWIFT Code or BIC Code

References

1. "What your credit card numbers mean". Retrieved 2010-12-07.
2. ISO/IEC 7812-1:2006 Identification cards — Identification of issuers — Part 1: Numbering system
3. "Card Security Features" (PDF). American Express. January 2001. Archived (PDF) from the original on 5 March 2006. Retrieved 2006-04-05. |archive-url= is malformed: timestamp (help)
4. "American Express Fraud Prevention Handbook" (PDF). p. 13. Retrieved 2006-04-05.
5. "Bankcard Association of Australia". Archived from the original on 6 April 2006. Retrieved 2006-04-05. |archive-url= is malformed: timestamp (help)
6. "China UnionPay Cards". Retrieved 2016-02-08.
7. "MasterCard Diners Club Alliance". Retrieved 2006-04-05.
8. "Discover Bulletin for VARs Feb 2015" (PDF). Retrieved 2015-08-14.
9. "Diners Club - Fraud Management". Retrieved 2007-01-26.
10. "Discover Network - IIN Range Update, 8.2" (PDF). September 2008. Retrieved 2008-10-23.
11. "Discover Network IIN Range Update, 9.2" (PDF). September 2009.
12. "Laser Card Services Ltd.". 28 February 2009.
13. "Maestro Global Rules" (PDF). MasterCard. 9 November 2012.
14. https://www.mastercard.us/en-us/issuers/get-support/2-series-bin-expansion.html
15. "Discover Network - IIN Range Update, 9.1" (PDF). October 2008. Retrieved 2009-01-28.
16. "Switch to Maestro". Archived from the original on 8 August 2010. Retrieved 2010-08-20.

External links

• H.P. Luhn and Automatic Indexing
• What your credit card numbers mean