Free BIN/IIN Checker

The Ultimate Guide to Lookup & Validate Bank Identification Numbers

We created this guide to help you lookup, verify BIN/IIN numbers in a way to make you understand how can BIN help you take the right decision.

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What is BIN/IIN Checker Tool? and How It Works?

The BIN/IIN checker tool is designed for free to help you look up the first 6 digits of any card to get the full information about the card including the country where the card is issued from, the card scheme sometimes called "brand or payment network", card type, card category, and the card's issuer information "bank or a financial company" with its contact information if available.

To check a BIN number, you have just to provide the first 6 digits of the payer card "sometimes first 8 digits to get the most accurate information" to get all the information we mentioned above. So, you have a clear vision of your online transactions to take a step to protect yourself from credit card fraudulent activities.

Free BIN/IIN Checker

Our free BIN checker can help you spot fraudulent credit card transactions. Start verifying, validating, and checking all information of credit/debit cards just using BIN numbers. Our database has +365,460 unique BINs.

What is a Banking Identification Number (BIN)?

A Bank Identification Number (BIN) is the first six digits of a credit card number that identify the issuing bank, card brand, card type, card level, and country of a credit card issued from. Online merchants, point-of-sale systems, and payment processors use this information to verify whether payments are being sent from an authentic account and to also identify which type of card you have. In other words, it’s how credit cards are identified in the payments industry.

Smart Chip Visa

How BIN Works?

The bank identification number is a numbering system developed by the American National Standards Institute and the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) to identify institutions that issue bank cards. The first digit of the BIN specifies the Major Industry Identifier (MII), such as airline, banking or travel, and the next five digits specify the issuing institution or bank. For example, the MII for a Visa credit card starts with a 4. The BIN helps merchants evaluate and assess their payment card transactions.

Each card issuer has its own BIN numbers for different brands or "payment networks". The first four digits signify the institution that issued the card, while the remaining digits identify a specific card type within that issuer. If you have an American Express credit card, the associated number begins with 34 or 37 and is followed by four numbers in any order. An example of this would be 342758 / 432266 / 548064 / 648618 / 812177. The same holds true for Mastercard – it usually starts with a number between 51 and 55 and has a maximum of 16 digits.

The BIN quickly helps a merchant identify which bank the money is being transferred from, the address and phone number of the bank, if the issuing bank is in the same country as the device used to make the transaction, and verifies the address information provided by the customer. The number allows merchants to accept multiple forms of payment and allows faster processing of transactions.

When a customer makes an online purchase, the customer enters her card details on the payment page. After submitting the first four to six digits of the card, the online retailer can detect which institution issued the customer’s card, the card brand (such as Visa or MasterCard), the card level (such as corporate or platinum), the card type (such as a debit card or a credit card), and the issuing bank country.

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Our free BIN checker looks up the first 6 or 8 digits of the card number to give the following information:

  • Card Brand
  • Card Type
  • Card Level
  • ISO Country Name
  • Issuer Name / Bank
  • Issuer’s website & other contact information

What information does the free BIN checker give with examples?

Our BIN checker works with major brands and most private brands as well. Let's take this Visa BIN as an example: 402617, this will be translated to the following:

  • Card Brand: VISA
  • Card Type: CREDIT
  • Card Level: SIGNATURE
  • ISO Country Name: UNITED STATES
  • Issuer Name / Bank: BANK OF AMERICA
  • Issuer’s website & other contact information: 704-386-5972 or 704-386-5681

What is the major industry identifier "MII"?

MII is the first digit of a credit/debit card number. The MII identifies the type of the issuing institution. American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) developed a numbering system to identify institutions that issue payment cards. Financial payment cards, such as those branded with Visa and MasterCard logos are mostly issued by banks and so fall into the category of payment networks. Industry Identifier (MII). It’s used to identify which industry the card was issued by. The MII digits are:

Here is a table of the list of MII types:

MII Digit Value Issuer Category
0 ISO/TC 68 and other industry assignments
1 Airlines
2 Airlines, financial and other future industry agreements
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

Who uses BIN numbers?

The BIN codes are used by merchants and other players in the payment ecosystem to identify the credit card issuer. If you swipe your credit card at a store or website, they can check the validity of the credit card by using the BIN checker. In addition, the security features for each transaction are identified, so both sides are clear about which features apply.

Why is it necessary to understand how BIN numbers work?

BIN numbers are important because they provide both merchants and payment processors with all the information they require to assess risk and interchange fees. The BIN number tells a merchant:

  • If the card issued from a trusted issuer.
  • If the issuer is located in the same geographic region as where the transaction takes place
  • If the address provided by the cardholder matches what's on file and IP address if the transactions placed online.
  • The issuing bank's/institution's name, location and contact information.
  • The card type (credit or debit), card level and if the card is a part of a reward program.

How credit card fraudsters use the BIN numbers?

Fraudsters can illegally get the credit card numbers directly from the victims, hacked online shopping websites and even from banks. They can either clone the data on fake plastic cards and buy what they need offline or use the cards data online to buy services, electronics and any goods they can reach. Even more they may use specific software to create more and more cards just using the BIN numbers and try to get their expiry date and security code for each card.

How understanding BIN numbers can help you avoid losing money as a merchant?

It's no secret that as a merchant, you're always at risk of fraudulent activities. This is especially true when it comes to credit card transactions, where someone can easily steal your information and use it for their own gain.

One way to help protect yourself from such frauds is to understand how BIN numbers work. These 6 digits can tell you a lot about a card, such as the type of card it is, the issuing bank, and sometimes even the country of origin.

Knowing this information can help you determine whether a credit card transaction is legitimate or not. For example, if you see a credit card with an unfamiliar BIN number, you may want to proceed with caution and investigate further before completing the transaction.

Finally, you can't depend on only checking BIN numbers alone to make sure you have a secure transactions. Checking BIN numbers of the credit cards is one of many factors when it comes to online payments specifically. You have to check IP address where the transaction is placed, phone number and area code, using proxy or VPN apps, device fingerprints, unsuccessful attempts form the same person, etc.

What tools included?

Bin Check offers many free tools such BIN checker, IP/BIN checker, Geolocation, etc. Also, we offer API services that can be integrated easily.

Take the advantages of these free tools to ensure your online transactions security.

Get your own API key to integrate with your own project. API is documented well in API documentation. ↗

We Support All Card Types from All Brands

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This tool is provided for informational purposes only. Whilst every effort is made to provide accurate data, users must acknowledge that this website accepts no liability whatsoever with respect to its accuracy. Only your bank can confirm the correct bank account information. If you are making an important payment, which is time critical, we recommend to contact your bank first.