Payment card number

The card number prefix identifies the issuer of the card, and the digits that follow are used by the issuing entity to identify the cardholder as a customer and which is then associated by the issuing entity with the customer's designated bank accounts.

It also differs from Universal Payment Identification Code, another identifier for a bank account in the United States.

IINs and PANs have a certain level of internal structure and share a common numbering scheme set by ISO/IEC 7812.

Obtaining an IIN/BIN number can be costly, time consuming and demand intensive operational burdens on in-house regulatory and compliance teams.

For this reason, some new card programmes may use a 'BIN sponsor', in which case the IIN/BIN number is effectively sub-licensed from a scheme regulated entity.

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.

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.

Diners Club cards issued in Canada and the United States start with 54 or 55 and are treated as Mastercards worldwide.