Credit Card Number

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Credit Card Number is the primary account number of the credit card holder, which one can see embossed on the credit card as well. The credit card number, which shares a common numbering scheme, has got some internal structure.

Structure of a credit card number

Credit cards throughout the world follow the same standard when it comes to numbering. It's the International Standards Organization (ISO/IEC 7812-1:1993) and the American National Standards Institute (ANSI X4.13) that has drawn up the specifications for credit card numbering system.

The Numbering System

The credit card numbers are a particular type of ISO/IEC 7812 bank card numbers. An ISO/IEC 7812 consists of the following:
  • Major Industry Identifier (MII) - a single-digit number,/li>
  • Issuer Identification Number (IIN) - a six-digit number
  • An Account Number
  • Check sum calculated (using Luhn algorithm)

Issuer Identification Number (IIN)

The first six digit of a credit card is known as Issuer Identification Number, which also include the MII (the first digit of a credit card number). IIN helps to identify the issuer of the credit card. The rest of the digits in the credit card number are allotted by the card issuer. As a security measure, some credit card issuers also print the first four digits of IIN on the credit card.

Following is the list of IIN ranges, which have been allocated to various issuing networks:

Issuing NetworkIIN RangesLength of Card Number
American Express34, 3715
Bankcard5610, 560221-56022516
China UnionPay622126-622925, 624000-626999, 628200-62889916-19
Diners Club Carte Blanche300-30514
Diners Club enRoute2014, 214915
Diners Club International3614
Diners Club US & Canada54, 5516
Discover Card6011, 622126-622925, 644-649, 6516
JCB3528-358916
Laser6304, 6706, 6771, 670916-19
Maestro5018, 5020, 5038, 6304, 6759, 6761, 676312/19/15
MasterCard51-5516
Solo6334, 676716, 18,19
Switch4903, 4905, 4911, 4936, 564182, 633110, 6333, 675916, 18, 19
Visa413, 16
Visa Electron417500, 4917, 4913, 4508, 484416

Major Industry Identifier (MII)

This is the first digit of the credit card that represents the category of the issuer of the credit card. From the MII, one can know about the category that the card issuer represents. MII is a part of Issuer Identification Number (IIN). Following is the list of MII:

MII Digit ValueCategory of Issuer
0ISO/TC 68 and other industry assignments
1Airlines
2Airlines and other industry assignments
3Travel and Entertainment
4Banking and Financial
5Banking and Financial
6Merchandizing and Banking
7Petroleum
8Telecommunications and other industry assignments
9National assignment

Account Number

The digit seventh and onwards in your credit card are your individual account identifier. As a credit card number can be of maximum 19 digits, and as the first 6 digits are issuer identifier and the last digit is the check digit, hence, an account number in a credit card can be of 12 digits (19-7) at maximum.

Check Digit

The final digit of a credit card number is called Check Digit. Luhn algorithm is used to find out the check digit.

Last Updated on May 16, 2015