What Is a Bank Identification Number (BIN)?

What is a BIN Number?  

A Bank Identification Number (BIN) is the first six to eight digits of a credit or debit card number. These numbers are used to help identify the issuing bank or other financial institution of a card. BINS are on credit cards, debit cards, prepaid cards, and certain other electronic benefit cards.

You may also hear the term Issuer Identification Number, or IIN, which is the same thing as BIN. This term reflects an increasing number of non-bank institutions who opt into the BIN network. Still, the terms IIN and BIN are pretty much interchangeable. 

Acquiring vs. Issuing BINs  

BIN is probably the most confusing acronym in payments, as it’s commonly used within the industry to refer to several different things given the context. An Acquiring BIN refers to the relationship between the acquiring bank and payment processing platform. This is a grouping of merchant accounts underwritten and managed by a processor that manages processing, risk, chargebacks, and settlements. The Acquiring BIN identifies the processing relationship being used by the merchant. There can be a high variance in Acquiring BIN risk and payment approval performance.  

A Card Issuing BIN is the aforementioned first six to eight digits of a credit card that identifies the grouping of cards issued by the bank. This article is focused exclusively on the Card Issuing BIN.  

What does a BIN tell you About a Card?

A Bank Identification Number (BIN) provides several key pieces of information about the payment card:

• Issuing Bank or Institution: The BIN identifies the financial institution that issued the card, whether it's a bank, credit union, or another type of financial service provider.
• Card Type: The BIN can indicate the type of card, such as whether it's a credit card, debit card, prepaid card, or another type of payment card.
• Card Network: The BIN reveals the card network (e.g., Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover).
• Card Country: The BIN can be used to determine the country where the card was issued.
• Card Level: Sometimes, the BIN can indicate the card level, such as whether it's a standard card, gold card, platinum card, etc.

This information is crucial for merchants and payment processors to validate transactions, determine fraud risk, and comply with regulatory requirements. Going a step deeper, expanding the BIN to the Account Range will provide even more granular detail on the attributes of that specific card.  

Major Industry Identifier

The first digit of the card number is called the Major Industry Identifier, meaning it identifies the category of the type of the issuing institution. For example, if you see a card that starts with 4111, you can be fairly certain it's issued by Visa. Likewise, the 5 that most Mastercards start with also identify it as a bank. In contrast, American Express BINs always start with a 3, the issuer category for travel and entertainment cards. That’s because, while it is now classed as a bank holding company, Amex has a history of providing travel services. 

As for the remaining digits on a payment card, the first nine digits following the BIN represent the account number. The final digit is the check digit or checksum, which banks use to verify the card number has been accurately used in a transaction.

What are BIN Numbers Used For?

BINs serve several essential purposes in the payments world. They are not just random numbers but are meticulously designed to serve multiple functions that benefit both merchants and customers.

Fraud Prevention

One of the most crucial uses of BINs is fraud prevention. By identifying the issuing bank, BINs can help merchants verify the authenticity of a card. If a transaction seems suspicious, merchants can use the BIN to cross-check with the issuing bank, thus reducing the risk of fraudulent activities.

Transaction Routing

BINs play a vital role in payment processing. Some BINs route better to certain processors. For example, a Visa card with a certain BIN may be better for processing at one particular processor than another. By using a payment provider that takes this into account when routing, merchants will see higher approvals and an increase in effective collection rate.

Accurate Reporting

BINs are valuable for generating reports on transaction activity. By analyzing BIN data, merchants can gain insights into customer demographics, spending habits, and preferred payment methods based on issuing bank and region.

Impact of BINs on Merchants

BINs greatly impact merchants by influencing key business areas like fraud prevention and transaction routing. They play a crucial role in successful payment processing, offering precise customer identification for verification, efficiency, and fraud prevention.

Tracking key business metrics at the BIN level and monitoring performance over time is a key advantage for merchants. Understanding when a BIN has high declines, a change in decline makeup, or elevated chargebacks can be indicators of changes at the issuer, merchant or processor, customer makeup, or product/marketing success. A key differentiator that most businesses miss is tracking business performance at the marketing channel and offer level, including BIN. This will help adjust risking and order funnel requirements to meet that audience with the least friction while maintaining high fraud identification rates.

It’s always good for merchants to be aware of things like BINs because more payment knowledge will lead to more efficient operations, however, it’s also important to minimize the effort of your internal teams to collect, store, and manage BIN data. That’s why it helps to have a payment expert in your corner and a provider that can handle this for you. 

Using a payment provider that uses the best practices of payment optimization to route each transaction, as certain bank BINs perform better if routed a certain way, will be the key to first-pass approvals and unlocking revenue. 

Streamline Payment Processing With Revolv3

If you’re searching for a team of payment experts who will be your partner in success, look no further than Revolv3. Revolv3 uses AI and ML logic that meticulously evaluates each data point in every transaction so it is optimally routed, one of those data points being BIN. Unlike other providers that process each payment the same. To prove our commitment to high-quality payment processing, we only charge for successful payments (whereas other platforms will charge for both successful and failed payments). Book a call with us today to learn how Revolv3 can help your business streamline payments.