A BIN lookup can indicate
- The issuer assigned to a public range
- The card network or co-brand
- Credit, debit, prepaid or charge funding
- Card product, level and commercial flags
- Issuer country and currency
- The precision and provenance of the match
Card identifier intelligence
BIN lookup
Look up a Bank Identification Number (BIN) or Issuer Identification Number (IIN) to find the card issuer, network, funding type, product, country, currency and source-backed data behind the matched range.
Ready to look up a BIN
The result table will show every public field in the canonical BIN record, including unavailable fields and field-level provenance.
BIN lookup guide
Understand the number behind the card.
A BIN lookup is useful only when the match is precise and the result is interpreted correctly. This guide explains what the leading digits identify, why six- and eight-digit results can differ, and what BIN data can—and cannot—tell you.
01 · Definition
BIN and IIN describe the same identifier.
BIN means Bank Identification Number. IIN means Issuer Identification Number—the formal term used by ISO/IEC 7812. IIN is more accurate because card issuers are not always banks: retailers, airlines, fintech programmes and other organizations can also sit behind card ranges.
In everyday payments language, BIN remains the more common name. Both terms refer to the leading issuer identifier in the Primary Account Number (PAN); neither refers to the individual cardholder account.
02 · Structure
Anatomy of a payment card number.
The complete PAN can contain up to 19 digits. A BIN lookup needs only the leading prefix and should never receive the entire card number.
First digitMII
Broad issuer-industry category
First 6 or 8 digitsBIN / IIN
Issuing organization or range
Variable lengthAccount identifier
Individual account within the range
Final digitCheck digit
Luhn checksum
Major Industry Identifier
The first digit is the MII. It gives a broad issuer category, not a bank, country or card product.
- 0
- ISO/TC 68 and other assignments
- 1
- Airlines
- 2
- Airlines, financial and future assignments
- 3
- Travel and entertainment
- 4–5
- Banking and financial
- 6
- Merchandising and financial
- 7
- Petroleum and future assignments
- 8
- Healthcare, telecommunications and other assignments
- 9
- National standards bodies
03 · Recognition
Common card-network prefixes.
| Network | Common leading range | Typical PAN length |
|---|---|---|
| Visa | 4 | 13, 16 or 19 digits |
| Mastercard | 51–55; 2221–2720 | 16 digits |
| American Express | 34; 37 | 15 digits |
| Discover | 6011; 622126–622925; 644–649; 65 | 16 or 19 digits |
| JCB | 3528–3589 | 16–19 digits |
| UnionPay | Primarily 62 | 16–19 digits |
| Diners Club | 300–305; 3095; 36; 38–39 | 14 or 16 digits |
04 · Interpretation
What BIN data can—and cannot—tell you.
A BIN lookup cannot reveal
- Whether an individual card is active or genuine
- Whether a card is expired, blocked or stolen
- The cardholder’s identity or account details
- A balance, credit limit or transaction history
- Whether an authorization will be approved
- The merchant’s acquirer or processor
05 · Application
How payment teams use BIN intelligence.
Routing
Choose logic using the matched network, funding type and issuing market.
Fraud analysis
Compare issuer geography with transaction and customer context without treating it as proof.
Cost modelling
Distinguish debit, credit, commercial and premium products when the range supports it.
Checkout UX
Recognize a likely network and expected card attributes while the customer enters a card.
Operations
Identify the issuer of record for support, disputes and payment investigations.
Data governance
Trace fields to sources and review quality, conflicts, freshness and usage rights.
06 · FAQ
BIN lookup questions, answered.
Clear answers to the distinctions that matter when using BIN, IIN and card-issuer data.
What is a BIN lookup?
A BIN lookup resolves the leading digits of a payment card number to the best matching public issuer range. It can return the issuing institution, card network, funding type, product or level, country, currency and supporting data-quality information.
Is a BIN checker different from a BIN lookup?
Usually not. Both query the same leading card-number prefix. ‘Checker’ emphasizes whether a prefix resolves to a known range; ‘lookup’ emphasizes the issuer and card attributes returned. Aurato handles both jobs in one BIN and IIN lookup instead of presenting them as separate tools.
Is a BIN the same as an IIN?
Yes. Both names refer to the issuer identifier at the start of a card number. Issuer Identification Number (IIN) is the formal ISO term; Bank Identification Number (BIN) is the older and more widely used industry term. Not every issuer is a bank, which is why IIN is more precise.
Is a BIN 6 or 8 digits?
The current ISO/IEC 7812 standard defines an eight-digit IIN, but existing six-digit assignments continue to exist. Aurato accepts 6 to 11 leading digits so it can resolve both legacy assignments and more specific account-range data without treating digits beyond the IIN as part of the IIN itself.
Can a BIN lookup identify the issuing bank?
Often, yes, when the public record contains an issuer assignment. The result identifies the issuer of record, which may differ from the consumer brand printed on a co-branded, fintech or white-label card.
Why can an 8-digit lookup differ from a 6-digit lookup?
A legacy six-digit assignment represents a block of one hundred possible eight-digit IINs. Those more specific ranges can be allocated or used differently, so a longer prefix may resolve to a different issuer, country, funding type or card product than its six-digit parent.
Can this tool validate a card or check its balance?
No. BIN data describes an issuer range, not an individual card or account. It cannot confirm that a card is active, genuine, expired, blocked or stolen, and it cannot reveal a cardholder, balance, credit limit or authorization outcome.
What does ‘no match found’ mean?
It means Aurato could not resolve the submitted prefix to an eligible public record. The prefix may be mistyped, retired, more specific than the available data, absent from current public coverage or subject to display rights. It is not proof that a card is fraudulent.
Is it safe to enter a card number?
Enter only the first 6 to 11 digits. Never enter a full card number, expiry date or security code. Aurato rejects longer input in this lookup and does not store lookup inputs.
What is the difference between an issuer, network and acquirer?
The issuer provides the card or account to the cardholder. The network supplies the payment rails and operating rules. The acquirer serves the merchant. A BIN can indicate the issuer and network, but it does not identify the merchant’s acquirer.
Why does Aurato show quality, provenance and usage rights?
BIN assignments change, sources can disagree and not every record may be republished on the same terms. Aurato exposes confidence, verification, conflicts, sources and usage rights so the result can be evaluated instead of presented as an unexplained fact.
07 · Precision
Why the move from 6-digit to 8-digit BINs matters.
ISO expanded the IIN standard from six to eight digits to increase the available identifier supply. Existing six-digit assignments did not disappear, so payment systems and lookup services need to understand both.
Key milestones: ISO published the eight-digit IIN revision in 2017. Visa required ecosystem support and moved new issuing-BIN assignments to eight digits in April 2022, while existing six-digit portfolios could remain in use.
A six-digit BIN can identify a parent issuer range, but may be too broad where that range has been subdivided.
An eight-digit IIN narrows one former six-digit block to one of one hundred possible sub-ranges.
Longer input can match more granular account-range data. Digits beyond eight improve the match; they are not a longer IIN.
6-digit parent
123456100 possible 8-digit IINs
12345600–12345699Longest available matchIssuer + product detail
Practical rule: submit as many leading digits as you legitimately hold, up to 11. A longer lookup can be more specific, but a six-digit result remains valid when no finer public assignment is available.