subject: Credit Card Bin Numbers- What Are They? [print this page] Have you ever heard of credit card BIN numbers? If you run a business then the chances are that you will soon if you haven't already. Put simply a credit card BIN number can help you to cut down the chances of your business suffering from fraud.
Should You Be Worried About Fraud?
Fraud can have devastating effects on any business. While many fraudulent transactions involve a small amount of money, there are some fraudulent transactions that take place which cost a business thousands of pounds. This can cause you to have to increase your prices, even just for a little while so that you can make up for the loss that you've suffered.
When you increase your prices, your customers may start to look elsewhere for cheaper deals. In this day and age people want to find the best quality products for the least cost. If you competitors are offering a lower cost service, you are bound to lose some of your customers. Some businesses have unfortunately found that moving on after increasing their prices is next to impossible. Avoid potentially having to shut down your business and take proper precautions to prevent fraud today. Invest in credit card BIN number lists.
How Credit Card BIN Numbers Can Help
Credit card BIN numbers are entered into a database. You are then presented with a list of information about that card. Each database is different but the information presented will usually include what the card is, where it's issued to and who owns it. The information is there in case you need to contact the owner or the issuer.
There shouldn't be many circumstances where you need to contact the owner of the card, but it's nice to have the information there just in case. That way if you suspect that the person trying to use the card isn't the owner, you can double check or simply refuse the transaction.
The reason why you may not always be presented with contact information is because of confidentiality. Imagine if your contact details could be found by just anybody if they were to run a search of your credit card. It's for this reason that the official credit card BIN numbers list is not available to the public. Only government officials and card issuers can see the official list.
Understanding Unofficial Credit Card BIN Numbers
All BIN databases that you have access to are not official. However, this doesn't mean that they aren't trustworthy. The numbers that they contain are still correct. Most have thousands upon thousands of numbers. You can even perform a free BIN search using your own number to see if it's in the database. If it isn't then many credit card BIN numbers databases will let you add a number that isn't there.
Overall you can find BIN databases online. Some are free, while others that have slightly more features will charge you to download them. Even though the lists that you find won't be official, they are still reliable and can help your business to counteract fraud.
