Credit Card Number

Credit Card Numbers:

Credit card number is a unique number that appears on the credit card and is very important in making the transactions on the credit card. Without valid credit card number it is not possible to successfully complete the transaction. The same credit card number is used while making purchases online and thus it is very essential from protecting your number to be used as stolen credit card numbers. Some fraudulent companies and individuals use free stolen credit card numbers or fake credit card numbers to carry out a fraudulent transaction. Thus, it is very important that your credit card number be protected from being used as hack credit card number because your credit card number is not among the free credit card numbers.

Structure Of Credit Card Number:

All numbers that appear on the credit card share some common internal structure or the numbering scheme that are dealt as ISO 7812. The structure of ISO 7812 is such that the first digit is used for identifying industry and is known as the single digit industry identifier (MII), then it has a six digit number that is used to identify the issuing company and is known as the six digit issuer identifier number (IIN), followed by the account number of the card holder and lastly a single digit that is very important checksum and here the Luhn algorithm is used. Generally, the industry identifier appears to be the part of issuer identifier number.

Prefixes Used In Card Number:

The real credit card numbers contain a prefix that is basically a sequence of numerals that appear in the start of number and are used in identifying the credit card network to which the particular number and its credit card belong. The initial six numerals of the credit card number are thus known as the bank identification number or BIN and this number is used in determining the financial institution that has issued the particular credit card. The remaining digits of the credit card number are determined by the financial institution that issues the credit card. The length of the credit card number will thus be determined by the digits it contains.

Prefixes Of Different Credit Card Issuers:

Different credit card issuers use different prefixes that also determine the list of valid credit card numbers. In year 2004, MasterCard and Diner’s club formed an alliance and now the cards issued by them in United States and Canada use the prefix 55, while the international cards are treated as Diner’s Club card worldwide and use the prefix 36. Discover now uses the prefix 65 as effective from October, 2006. Previously, VISA used to issue thirteen digit card numbers, but now the credit card numbers of VISA cards are sixteen digits long. The prefix for the VISA cards is 4. American Express issues the fifteen digit credit card number with the prefixes 34 and 37.

Credit Card Number Hacking:

In online purchases, it is very common that the credit card number is gets hacked and is used illegally. Many companies confirm the transaction through the emails so as to reduce the chances that credit card number is used illegally. Many companies are also developing specialized systems so as to reduce the chances of credit card numbers being hacked.

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