ISO/IEC 7812
ISO/IEC 7812 Identification cards — Identification of issuers was first published by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) in 1989. It is the international standard that specifies "a numbering system for the identification of issuers of cards that require an issuer identification number (IIN) to operate in international, interindustry and/or intra-industry interchange",[1] and procedures for registering IINs.[2] ISO/IEC 7812 has two parts:
- Part 1: Numbering system
- Part 2: Application and registration procedures
The registration authority for Issuer Identification Numbers (IINs) is the American Bankers Association.
An IIN is six digits* in length. The leading digit is the major industry identifier (MII), followed by 5 digits, which together make up the IIN. This IIN is paired with an individual account identification number, and a single digit checksum.[1]
In 2015, the industry began work on implementing a change to ISO 7812 to increase the length of the IIN to 8 digits. An international working group is currently developing a new standard for implementation within the next 18 to 24 months. A copy of the proposal can be obtained from the Registration Authority.
Major industry identifier
The first (leading) digit of the IIN identifies the major industry of the card issuer.
| MII digit value | Issuer category |
|---|---|
| 0 | ISO/TC 68 and other industry assignments |
| 1 | Airlines |
| 2 | Airlines, financial and other future industry assignments |
| 3 | Travel and entertainment |
| 4 | Banking and financial |
| 5 | Banking and financial |
| 6 | Merchandising and banking/financial |
| 7 | Petroleum and other future industry assignments |
| 8 | Healthcare, telecommunications and other future industry assignments |
| 9 | For assignment by national standards bodies |
MII 9 has been assigned to national standards bodies for national use. The first digit is a 9 followed by a three-digits numeric country code numeric-3 country code from ISO 3166-1. National Numbering Systems are managed by ISO-member national standards bodies. The US National Numbering system is managed by the American National Standards Institute.
Issuer identifier number
The first six digits, including the major industry identifier, compose the issuer identifier number (IIN) which identifies the issuing organization. The IIN is sometimes referred to as a "bank identification number" (BIN). The IIN's use is much broader than identification of a bank. IINs are used by companies other than banks.
IIN Register
The official "ISO Register of Issuer Identification Numbers", is not available to the general public. It is only available to institutions who hold IINs published in the Register, financial networks and processors. Institutions are required to sign a licensing agreement before they are given access to the Register. Several IINs are well known, especially those representing credit card issuers.
Individual account identification
In conjunction with the IIN, card issuers assign an account number to a card holder. The account number is variable in length with a maximum of 12 digits.
Check digit
The final digit is a check digit which is calculated using the Luhn algorithm, defined in Annex B of ISO/IEC 7812-1.
Changes to the IIN scheme proposed
In late 2014 ISO had established early efforts to evaluate extending the IIN range from 6 digits to 8, other proposals including moving to an alphanumeric system also were considered. Ongoing work on this effort is underway with the major payment card networks, card issuers involved on what a transition will look like. This effort is primarily being spearheaded as a result of an increasingly dwindling number of IINs that remain open for registration. It is unknown how long existing IINs will be available until fully depleted, with speculation of months and the best estimates of five years.
References
- 1 2 "ISO/IEC 7812-1:2006 Identification cards - Identification of issuers - Part 1: Numbering system". Iso.org. 2009-09-28. Retrieved 2014-06-28.
- ↑ "ISO/IEC 7812-2:2007 Identification cards - Identification of issuers - Part 2: Application and registration procedures". Iso.org. 2009-09-28. Retrieved 2014-06-28.
