How Credit Card Numbers Are Determined
The card number itself comes from ISO 7812 standards. The first digit on the card will tell you what category it is in per the standards. Four and five identifies the card as banking and financial and six identifies the strip as merchandizing and banking. Three is actually travel and entertainment. The number itself has a structure to it - the first six digits being the Bank Identification Number (BIN).
MasterCard
MasterCard will usually begin with 51-55 with 16 digits. Usually the first six digits is the BIN and the next nine digits are your account number while the last number is a checksum for the mod-10 algorithm.
Visa
Visa credit card numbers will begin with a four and have 13 or 16 digits. It can be presumed though that most cards issued with the Visa logo will have 16 digits. Usually the first six digits is the BIN and the next nine digits are your account number while the last number is a checksum for the mod-10 algorithm.
American Express
American Express will usually begin with a 34 or 37 and have 15 digits.
Diner's Club
Diner's Club will usually begin with a 36 or 55. Those beginning with a 36 should have 14 digits will those beginning with 55 will have 16 digits. Keep in mind that in the last quarter of 2004,
MasterCard and Diner's club formed an alliance. Cards issued in Canada and the USA start with 55 and are treated as MasterCards worldwide. International cards use the 36 prefix and are treated as mastercards in Canada and the US, but are treated as Diner's Club cards elsewhere.
Discover Card
Discover Card card will usually begin with 6011 and have 16 digits. Check out
Standard Security Features Common to Discover Network Issued Credit Cards for more information.
Also check out this PDF for a bit more information:
Card Security Features.
There are a few other organizations like JCB, Maestro, Solo, Switch, Visa Electron that can be found, however a lot of these are debit cards which might require a personal identification number (PIN) to be used with the transaction. Currently providers are unable to handle this PIN via the internet due to security reasons so you, as a merchant, might not be able to accept them.
Comments
Thanks for valuable information concerning credit card numbers. It's always interesting to learn what every credit institution can offer.