What is the IIN / BIN of Cards

What is the IIN / BIN of Cards?

:large_blue_circle:1. On a credit card, BIN stands for "Bank Identification Number". The BIN is embedded within the credit card number and tells which financial institution issued the card. As institutions other than banks entered the credit card issuance business, the term "Issuer Identification Number", or IIN, became commonplace. Whether BIN or IIN, the term represents the same thing.

:large_blue_circle:2. On any credit card number, the first six digits are the BIN or IIN ID. All digits that follow, except the last digit, identify the individual account linked to the card. The last digit of the credit card number is a "check digit", a security measure and verification. If you connect the other digits in a particular mathematical formula - the so-called Luhn algorithm - the result must be the check digit. If it is not, the card number is invalid.


:large_blue_circle:3. The first digit of the BIN or IIN indicates the "Main Industry Identifier." This number indicates which major industry comes from the issuing institution. If the card starts with a 1 or a 2, the issuer is an airline. If it's 3, it's a travel and entertainment industry. Cards that start with 4 and 5 come from financial institutions. A card starting with 6 may come from a bank or a merchant, such as a retail store card. If the first number is 7, the issuer is an oil industry. If it is an 8, the sender is from the telecommunications area. Cards starting with 9 or 0 are for other issuers, including governments.

:large_blue_circle:4. The other five digits of the BIN identify the specific institution that issued the card. An institution can have only one BIN or IIN or it can have a whole series of them. You can book some BINs for "gold" or "platinum" cards, corporate, debit, gift or other specific types. Since there are six digits in the BIN, there are a million possible numbers. An online service, the "Bank Information Numbers Database," identified issuers of more than 110,000 different BINs or IINS as of early 2011.

:large_blue_circle:5. Cards issued by a large brand share a few digits at the beginning of the BIN. Visa cards always start with a 4. Already when they are MasterCard, they start with a number between 51 and 55. Discover cards, originally issued by a Sears unit, start with 6011, 644 and 65. American Express cards, reflecting the roots of the company in the travel industry, start with 34 or 37.