subject: The Inner Workings Of A Bin Database Lookup [print this page] The Bank Identification Number, or bin for short, is a feature that has been used with credit cards for some time. The main use is to identify where the card originated from such as the bank or institution which issued the card. This has since evolved into a method of testing and validation of a card number before being sent to process through a merchant account processing service. This is essentially one of the highest accuracy tools of preventing invalid card charges from ever making it through and eventually prompting a reversal charge and fee for attempting to process a fraudulent card number.
Enter the Bin Database Lookup
The bin number is now a useful set of information available on every card that is used to make electronic purchases or fund transfers. When a bin database lookup is used, the user will enter the bin number from a card into the search and the returning query response will be able to provide the necessary information for validation. A typical query for a bin database lookup will have the following information:
Card Brand - Often a bin database lookup will provide you with the appropriate card brand that is used with the issuer. The most popular brands are American Express, MasterCard and Visa but there are also many others that may show up in the bin database lookup.
Issuing Bank - This is the bank that is stored within the bin database lookup information. Any bank that can issue credit cards will have a specific number sequence to denote it.
Card Type - The card type is important with a bin database lookup because it will describe whether or not there is credit available on the card or if the card would be preloaded into an account. Credit or debit cards are the most common types of cards that will be displayed. Sometimes this field can be left blank.
Card Level - The card level listed in any bin database lookup will display what type of card that the buyer has. Common options are Standard, Gold, Platinum and other colors which represent the buying power of the card.
ISO Codes - These are the International Organization for Standardization issued values that are collected by the bin database lookup. This can provide information about the country the card was issued in. This can be used in a variety of different manners.
The Task of the Bin Database Lookup
Fortunately, the bin database lookup will be an easy method to quickly verify card numbers for payment. The usual process would be to collect the number and information of the buyer's card. Entering the number into the bin database lookup will simply provide the information mentioned above. If there is an issue with the number that is entered into the bin database lookup, an error message will be provided. Additionally, if the bin database lookup does not have an entry for the card number, then the card should be considered potentially fraudulent. No number information can simply be that the number has yet to be added to the bin database lookup (unlikely), or the bin simply does not exist and is an attempt to make fraudulent purchases with generated numbers.
