W.e.f. 1st April 2022, Visa & Mastercard Introduction of 8-digit BIN Number

W.e.f. 1st April 2022, Visa and Mastercard Introduction of 8-digit BIN Number:

The card organisations Visa and Mastercard will extend the BIN (Bank Identification Number) of their cards from 6 to 8 digits globally on April 1st 2022. Among other things, the BIN is used by merchants and Payment Service Providers (PSPs) for routing transactions for authorisation, fraud prevention, loyalty programs or reportings. The change of the BIN-length is a regulation change. Whether you are in face-to-face business or e-commerce, as a merchant you need to be compliant from 1st April 2022.

The first 6 digits of the Primary Account Number (PAN) of credit, debit and prepaid cards are called Bank Identification Number (BIN). The BIN is generally used to identify the scheme, the issuers and can allow you to retrieve other payment information like the card type or the used currency.

The massive growth of credit card issuers in recent years has led to a shortage of Bank Identification Numbers available. Because of the increasing demand of BINs by issuers, the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) introduced a new standard to extend the BIN from 6 to 8 digits. The general length of the card number (e.g. 16 and 19 digits for Visa and Mastercard in Europe) will not change.

Visa and Mastercard are implementing the new 8-digit standard from April 2022.

For most merchants, this 8-digit extension will have no impact. For a small part of merchants, it could have an impact on their day-to-day operations if they have dedicated processing based on the BIN that they manage themselves: For example, this affects routing of transactions, identification of the issuer for fee calculation, fraud management and reporting.

However, you as a merchant need to be compliant with the new BIN-system at the deadline. If this is not the case, a significant loss in sales due to e.g. rejected cards might result – depending on the implementation.

Be aware, that the change concerns only Visa and Mastercard at the moment. All other major schemes like American Express, Diners Club/Discover, RuPay, JCB, UnionPay, etc. have not yet announced timetables for implementing the new 8-digit BIN, but it is expected to happen sooner or later.

What is the Bank Identification Number (BIN)?

The Bank Identification Numbers (BIN) uniquely identifies schemes, issuers and holds other payment information. Currently the BIN corresponds to the first 6 digits of the card number.
Because of the increasing demand of BIN by issuers, in April 2022 the length of the BIN will be extended from 6 to 8 digits, without a change of the general length of the card number/PAN – Primary Account Number (e.g. 16 and 19 digits for Visa and Mastercard in Europe).

What is changing?

For Visa and Mastercard, in April 2022 the length of the BIN will be extended from 6 to 8 digits.
By this time, Visa and Mastercard will reallocate the BINs between issuers step by step. Some will keep their complete 6-digits BIN extended to 8 digits, while others will get a slightly or completely new BIN.

What won’t change?

• The general card number length will remain the same.
• The PCI rules won’t change. Receipt requirements remain unchanged.
• No new cards will need to be issued.

What can be the consequences?

The use of the old 6-digit BIN could have negative consequences for merchants doing processing on BINs.

The BIN can be used for:

• BIN blocking, fraud scoring, fraud prevention
• Reporting
  
• Identification of transactions in the context of disputes (chargebacks)
• Loyalty programs
• Information about the type of card (debit, credit, prepaid, commercial) or the currency in use
• Identification of the card issuer (bank and country)

Actions to be taken by you as a merchant?

If you have processing tasks based on BINs, it is recommended to check their compatibility with the new 8-digit format.
If you use 3rd party acquirers, 3rd party PSPs or Integrated Software Solutions, please check with your provider it they are compliant with 8-digit BINs.

What is the influence on PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard)?

The generic PCI regulations are not expected to change with the introduction of the 8-digit BIN.