General FAQs
What is BIN database all about?
A BIN database is a collection of Bank Identification Numbers. The BIN refers to the first six (or more) digits of a debit or credit card. Used in conjunction with the IIN, or Issuer Identification Number, the BIN database can be used to identify transactions.
How does your company collect BIN data?
Most of the BIN details in our database come from businesses that deal with online credit card acceptance such as online merchants. Additional information is obtained directly from the financial institutions which issue credit cards. We implement a complex validation method including cross-checking with multiple data sources to assure you get the best data possible.
Why not the official sources?
If you are using the official tables you may notice a lot of inconsistencies regarding the card type (debit vs. credit) and missing data fields like bank names in Visa files. Additionally, they will charge you a lot, lot more. Below is the quote and terms one of our customers got from MasterCard alone:
Why should I use the BIN database?
Using the BIN database can help to protect your business from fraud. The BIN database will verify credit, debit, and gift card purchases so that you can avoid the financial loss that is associated with fraudulent purchases.
Is BIN database legal? What are your rights to distribute it?
Yes, our BIN database is legal. We work hard to collect the data and don't infringe any copyrights.
Is your BIN database the best solution for business protection?
Yes. We offer 99% database accuracy. Our BIN database is the most accurate database available today, and you can test it against your data before you make a decision. There is a chance of getting a false positive, but based on our experience and our clients' experience, this usually doesn't go above 0.2%.
How big is your database?
Take a look at our datasheet.
Where do you offer the most BIN coverage?
We cover all regions and countries worldwide, no countries excluded.
I can't find the BIN I was searching for.
The demo version available on our website does not access our latest BIN database in its entirety. For full access, one must buy a subscription to our service. For testing purposes, feel free to email our staff and provide the BIN number(s) that you wish to search. We will promptly provide you with the appropriate BIN data. Or buy a test account - this fee will be deducted if you make the decision to purchase one of our products.
Technical FAQs
Do you offer API access or web interface?
No. There are no benefits of web access over a local copy of the database. We believe that working locally with the regularly updated database will yield much better results and will be more secure. Our data comes in an easily parsed format, so it will take an hour or two for an experienced engineer to import it into any system of yours.
Is there a developer guide/integration documents?
No. Our files are simple and self-descriptive.
What file formats does your BIN database use?
Our BIN database uses a semicolon-delimited format, which works in any environment. Click here to download the CSV database sample. In case you need a larger sample, contact us. Six digit data comes in XML and MySQL formats as well.
Is your BIN database ISO compliant?
Yes. Our database is ISO compliant. We have implemented four additional ISO parameters to our database.
Can I see a sample record of your BIN database? What data is included per bin range?
You can see the structure for both traditional six digit BIN database and Extended database here. CSV samples for 6 to 11-digit files could be downloaded here.
What types of brands, card types and categories does your BIN database support?
These are available in our datasheet.
What percentage of global BINs would you estimate that you cover?
BinBase covers at least 99.9% of all available BINs worldwide.
Are prepaid card BINs and gift card BINs included in your database? Do you distinct between reloadable and non-reloadable prepaid cards?
Yes. Moreover, we proudly maintain the largest set of prepaid BINs - over 12200. This is industry best. Our customers report about 98.5% of all prepaid transactions are identified correctly. They can be found in our debit card category.
Sample gift card record:
460132;VISA;PRIVATE BANK AND TRUST COMPANY;DEBIT;GIFT;UNITED STATES;US;USA;840;HTTP://WWW.THEPRIVATEBANK.COM/;(847) 482-8100
Sample prepaid card record:
400054;VISA;METABANK;DEBIT;PREPAID;UNITED STATES;US;USA;840;HTTPS://WWW.METABANK.COM/;1.866.550.6382
Sample reloadable prepaid card record:
222678;MASTERCARD;PAYSAFE FINANCIAL SERVICES, LTD.;DEBIT;PREPAID RELOADABLE;UNITED KINGDOM;GB;GBR;826;;
Do you differentiate between prepaid gift cards and virtual cards?
Yes. Here's an example of a BIN which is not attached to a physical card:
436103;VISA;UNIVERSITY NATIONAL BANK;DEBIT;VIRTUAL;UNITED STATES;US;USA;840;HTTP://WWW.UNIVERSITYBANK.COM/;(651) 265-5600
Do you provide the card level, e.g., Platinum, etc.?
We do. Take a look at the datasheet.
What percentage of fields in your BIN database is complete?
It's reflected in the datasheet.
Do you update discontinued and reassigned BINs?
Yes, we remove discontinued BIN information, and edit information when BINs are reassigned.
Can you always say of the card is debit, credit, or charge?
Yes, we offer "card type" field defined in 100% of cases for existing BINs. Sometimes we are obliged to add the whole BIN range like new MasterCard 2* with very few of them actually being "live".
I have entered a BIN number of a debit card, and it is being shown as credit. Why?
Sometimes credit and debit cards may share the same BIN. Also, we have seen many occurrences when the debit card with an overdraft is defined as credit. It is perfectly normal.
Can the BIN data be used for age verification? All sites accessible to UK visitors must prevent children from accessing adult content. How do we go about that?
A regulator will be assigned, probably the BBFC, to enforce compliance. Sites that don't comply will be blocked in the UK at the ISP level. The regulator states what the approved methods of age verification are. Currently, there are several methods, purchasing using a credit card being one of them. Our database is reliable in differentiating between debit and credit cards. The client enters the card number (debit or credit, doesn't matter), the service charges a few cents/pennies and refund it immediately. This is done to check if the card is linked to an account. Account owners are always adults over 18. In the UK, minors can buy debit cards from newsagents; they can also have bank accounts with debit cards from the age of 16. Credit cards (because the bank gives you credit and you can't enter into a credit agreement as a minor) are only available to adults, in the US and UK.
What is a charge card?
Charge cards differ from debit cards and credit cards. Charge cards, which are primarily issued by American Express, require cardholders to pay off balances every month. Charge cards do not issue spending limits and do not charge interest on purchases.
Is your Windows software required for checking a BIN number against your database or can we use the CSV?
You can do both. Software is not required; you can use the CSV.
What is the time difference between the new cards being issued and the time we receive the update?
This usually takes two weeks to two months for the changes to be reflected in our database.
Technical FAQs - Extended Database
Are the 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11 BINs already in use?
Yes. About 31% of all 6 BIN numbers are already split into different account ranges (as of February 2021).
Are all bins six digits? We see that sometimes an 7-, 8- or 9-digit BIN is needed to distinguish between different product types or issuing country. How do you handle that?
This is a new industry standard which we proudly support. The six-digit BIN is not sufficient to determine the issuing country of the card, for instance. Account Range Level Processing versus BIN Level Processing are the terms used by Visa and MasterCard themselves. It doesn't matter how we call it - it's a new reality, and we all must adapt. Don't underestimate the number of issuers that already moved to account range level processing. Please refer to the official documents from Visa and from MasterCard..
How do we use the extended data? Can the "same" BIN be present in several sizes?
Utilize the longest BIN possible. If not found, move lower. If the country of a longer BIN matches the country of a 6 digit BIN, then you can derive any other field from a 6 digit BIN.
Is there a way to identify the BINs associated with commercial cards?
Absolutely. We have a special PERSONAL/COMMERCIAL flag under the Extended License. See the here for extended 6-digit BIN database.
Do you identify HSA/FSA accounts in your database? Does the BIN tell us whether it's HSA/FSA or not?
Yes, we support BINs for cards issued for health savings accounts (HSA) and flexible spending accounts (FSA). Example:
510460;MASTERCARD;U.S. BANK, N.A.;DEBIT;HSA NON SUBSTANTIATED;UNITED STATES;US;USA;840;WWW.USBANK.COM;1-800-US BANKS
Do you identify regulated vs. unregulated debit?
Yes, we have a special flag in the Extended database.
What about PCI DSS compliance regarding the new standard? It clearly states that we can only use the first 6 digits of a PAN.
With a 6 digit BIN database, you use 6/4 ("first 6, any other 4") PAN masking format. For example, you can keep a 8 digit BIN when you truncate a 16-digit PAN. You can find an answer in this FAQ #1091. This covers truncation rules for the increased PAN lengths. You can retain "first 6, any other 4" -- so that can be NNNN NNNN **** **NN.
What are PCI DSS 3.3 and 3.4 requirements for BIN truncation and data storage?
PCI DSS Requirement 3.3 covers protection of the PAN displayed on screens, paper receipts, printouts, etc. PCI DSS Requirement 3.4 covers protection of PAN when stored in files, databases, etc.
Requirement 3.3 requires to mask PAN when displayed (the first six and last four digits are the maximum number of digits to be displayed), such that only personnel with a legitimate business need can see more than the first six/last four digits of the PAN.
Requirement 3.4 requires to render PAN unreadable anywhere it is stored (including on portable digital media, backup media, and in logs) by using any of the following approaches:
– One-way hashes based on strong cryptography, (hash must be of the entire PAN)
– Truncation (hashing cannot be used to replace the truncated segment of PAN)
– Index tokens and pads (pads must be securely stored)
– Strong cryptography with associated key-management processes and procedures.
For Requirement 3.3, the masking approach should always ensure that only the minimum number of digits is displayed as necessary to perform a specific business function. For example, if only the last four digits are needed to perform a business function, mask the PAN so that individuals performing that function can view only the last four digits. While the intent of Requirement 3.3 is to display no more than the “first six and last four digits” of a PAN, an entity will be permitted to display more digits if needed but only with a documented business justification.
As a conclusion, you can safely transit to using extended BIN numbers while keeping up with PCI DSS requrements.
For Requirements 3.4, the maximum digits of a PAN that can be stored using truncation are “first six and any other four.” Mastercard’s acceptable truncation format has not changed as a result of the 8-digit BIN expansion mandate. If an entity needs to store more than “first six and any other four,” then truncation cannot be used to meet Requirement 3.4 and one of the other three approaches would need to be applied to render the PAN unreadable anywhere it is stored.
Licensing FAQs
I want to test your database before deciding. How can I go about this?
There are several options.
1) Use our online demo search.
2) Send us a list of up to 100 BINs in a text file, one BIN per row. We'll be back with the results in our semicolon delimited format. That's free.
3) If that's not enough, you can order a test account for 500-5000 searches. This will give you immediate access to a simple interface where you can make single or bulk lookups with no time limit, captchas and ads.
I wish to review client references before choosing your service.
In the interest of protecting our clients, we do not reveal this data to the public. If you represent a legitimate organization, we can provide you appropriate reference information. As we have over 3200 active clients, please provide the industry/country you are interested in, to narrow the search.
Do you have any form of guarantee? I need to find a way to quantify or measure the risk we still carry after buying your DB. Please provide any information you have that will allow me to get comfortable with your service and the risks.
We offer a remarkable >99% accuracy rate, over 3200 satisfied clients in any niche you can think of and a near zero refund/chargeback ratios. Of course, all this may sound simple like a claim, so the best way is to test. Find a list of real transactions and check against our data. We offer three options for this (see two questions above).
Why are there so few players in this space?
Maintaining a valid BIN database is a tremendous work. We are a team of software engineers and data research professionals, and we have our sleeves up busy doing daily work. Updates are coming every day, banks are being merged, acquired, closed - this adds a lot to the workload. Since we strive to automate as much as possible, there's still a lot of manual work when it comes to analyzing real cards and transactions. Official tables from the schemes often lack certain parameters like card categories and bank names, so we collect and even buy thousands of scanned images of real cards to make sure you have a reliable data source.
What makes you different from other BIN database providers and why are there different numbers?
1) Most importantly, we offer access to the most recent data. This includes not only traditional six digit BINs which have been around for ages, but also 7-11 BIN ranges which are the new standard. None of our competitors offer such detalization. There could be up to 150 different countries and issuers under one six-digit BIN, and if you don't have access to the longer BIN ranges, transactions will go misrouted, and you will face losses.
2) Complete transparency - we reveal all our numbers in the datasheet.
3) Having been in business since 2008 with a documented history of updates, we are not going to disappear.
4) We don't deceive our customers. Some of our competitors are involved in the unethical practice of artificial numbers inflation. As you may notice, they do not offer complete data sheets of their databases, if any. We have 100% of "card type" field defined which they can't offer. What's the purpose of the BIN database if you can't tell if the card is debit or credit?
How many updates did you send out last year?
12, as in any other year. Check our news section.
What kind of contract is needed between our company and BinBase?
We don't require a contract. However, if you need the signed contract we can provide our standard contract.
Will I be able to download your BIN database and software after purchase?
Yes, you will be provided with your personal links for secure download within 24 business hours after the purchase. On weekends or holidays, it may take a bit longer.
How much does your BIN database cost?
We offer:
1) The Single License at $1199 ($1079 if paid by bank wire transfer) with six months of updates included. You can only use the database within your own company, and in raw form - only to make lookups. After updates expire, the cost of updates is $499 per year.
2) The Universal License at $1899 ($1709 if paid by bank wire transfer) with 24 months of updates. You have the right to create your own software product using the database. After updates expire, the cost of updates is $499 per year.
3) The Extended License is $2999 if paid online and $2699 if paid by bank wire. The license includes all benefits of the Universal License plus grants access to the Extended database. After updates expire, the cost of updates is $899 per year.
I want to install/store a database copy on more than one PC/server/device. Can I do it?
Yes, you can. All three of our licenses grant you the right to store the database copy on one single machine. Each additional PC adds $999 to the price regardless of the license type.
I see you offer IP to location database along with Universal and Extended license. How do we get it, is there an extra charge?
This is a free supplement, and you will get monthly updated IP to location database along with the BIN data.
Can I buy just a portion of the BIN database?
No. Our BIN database is an integral product and must be bought in its entirety.
Are regular database updates included in the purchase price?
Yes. We will send you free updates throughout your eligible licensing period (6 months for Single License, 24 months for Universal License, 24 months for Extended License). After your license has expired, you can buy a 1-year update for $499 (USD) for Single/Universal Licenses and $899 for Extended. Important note: Renewal prices are only available within 6 months of the initial license expiration date. If not renewed within this period, new license must be purchased.
How often do you update your database? How do I get the updates?
Our BIN database is updated daily. We issue updates to our clients every month. You will get an email notification with the links to download your files. We recommend creating a special email box with no filtering. Also, setting up a secure Gmail account (with 2 step verification, etc.) is also a good idea. Other delivery methods include: static link or uploading to FTP/SFTP location (yours or ours) or setting up an endpoint URL with a token which allows you to automatically download the data when it's updated.
How often will I receive updates?
Updates will be sent to you by email (with download links) every month.
Are subsequent files full files or delta files?
Each time you will get a full file. All you have to do is to replace an old file with new one.
What are the licensing terms for BinBase?
BinBase.com offers its solutions exclusively for businesses or other forms of authorized organizations (governmental, law enforcement, educational). We DO NOT sell our products to individuals or startup businesses. Please view our licensing for details.
We intend to embed your BIN database within our product/solution. Is that covered in your licensing terms?
Yes. In this case, you should proceed with the Universal or Extended License. Please note, however, that you can't redistribute/resell the database in its original format or embed it in the redistributable software. Access to the BIN data must be limited.
What are the payment options?
We accept different forms of online payments through our payment gateway - Avangate/2Checkout. Additionally, we offer direct payments to our company's name via bank wire transfer or PayPal. In the latter case, we provide discounts by deducting processing fees or VAT which may be collected by payment gateway.
What kind of support you offer? Response time, and error handling? If our customers / we discover an error with a BIN, how is it rectified?
We offer technical support only by email, not by phone. Queries are usually answered within 2-3 hours if they are sent within our working time (EU). Otherwise, it may take up to 24 hours if the question requires additional research. You can address any problem with us, including any problematic BIN.
When will I receive purchased files?
You will receive an email containing download links within 24 hours of purchase.
