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Card brands - Visa Update: Migration to the Eight-digit BIN

Visa provides updates about migration to the eight-digit BIN

For: All merchants
Date effective: April 2022


Background

In 2017, the International Organization for Standardization announced a new standard for the migration of the payments infrastructure from the current six-digit Issuing Identification Number (IIN) to an eight-digit standard, to help ensure an adequate global Bank Identification Number (BIN) supply for the industry.

Effective in April 2022, Visa will implement eight-digit issuing BINs in accordance with this transition. Visa will only assign eight-digit BINs after the April 2022 release date. 


Considerations

Systems accepting only six-digit BINs must be updated for eight-digit BINs. Consider how this change may impact your systems, including POS systems. Please follow the current global BIN file specifications and review your internal processes to ensure you are prepared to accommodate an eight-digit BIN.

In preparation for expanding to the new eight-digit BIN standard, migration can be simplified by efficiently managing the numeric capacity in existing six-digit BINs. This means using the identification and processing capabilities that exist at the account range level. Each six-digit BIN contains 1,000 discrete account ranges, and can support multiple products/programs, as permitted for certain product types in the Visa Rules. Visa expects compliance with existing policies that require the ability to process and manage products at the account range level. 

Clients must ensure their vendors, agents, and third parties are involved in preparation and testing activities for adoption of the eight-digit BIN. 


Numerics terminology changes

Visa has several numeric identifier values used for processing, routing, and identification within the payments ecosystem. Visa will consolidate identifier names and, in some cases, rename to clarify usage with the conversion to an eight-digit issuing BIN. Visa will use the term “BIN” solely to refer to the six- or eight-digit PAN prefix used to identify the issuer licensee. Visa-assigned numeric identifiers used for processing, historically referred to as “BINs,” will be renamed using terminology specific to each of their functions.

Starting in fourth quarter 2019, Visa documentation will be updated to use the future identifier names shown in the table below. 


Identifier name

Description

Format

Future

Current

Future

Current

Primary Account Number (PAN)

Primary Account Number (PAN)

Used for identifying different processing characteristics.

16-digit, numeric1

16-digit, numeric1

Account Range

Account Range

First nine digits of the PAN used to identify various product and processing attributes.

Nine-digit, numeric

Nine-digit, numeric

Acquiring Identifier

BIN, Acquiring BIN, Acquiring Institution Identification Code, Affiliate ID, Acquiring Route Identifier (RID), RID, Acquiring ID

Assigned by Visa to identify the acquirer.

Six-digit, numeric

Six-digit, numeric

Issuing Identifier

Primary Account Number (PAN)

Assigned by Visa and used to define issuing processing. Multiple issuing (ISO) BINs may use the same issuing identifier.

Six-digit, numeric

Six-digit, numeric

VSS Processor

BIN, Processor, Settlement BIN

Used to define the settlement entity for V.I.P. Full Service endpoints.

Six-digit, numeric2

Six-digit, numeric2

BASE II Center Information Block (CIB)

BIN, Processor BIN, CIB

Used to define the processor/settlement entity for BASE II endpoints.

Six-digit, numeric

Six-digit, numeric

File Deliver Endpoint Identifier

Non-core numeric identifier (NCNID)

Used to identify a specific endpoint.

Six-digit, numeric

Six-digit, numeric

Issuing (ISO) BIN

BIN, Issuer Identification Number (IIN), ISO BIN, Card Prefix

Identifies the issuer. Same as first digits of PAN. Rarely used in Visa processing.

Eight-digit, numeric3

Six-digit, numeric3

Alternate Route Identifier (RID)

BIN, Routing ID

Used to define specialized processing or routing relationships.

11-digit, numeric

Six-digit, numeric

Visa Resolve Online Identifier

Routing ID

Used to identify various Visa Resolve Online organizations, enabling endpoint access to specific disputes.

11-digit, numeric

Six-digit, numeric

Encryption rule identifier

BIN, Encryption BIN, Pseudo BIN, Routing ID

Used as a Visa system locator to ensure correct keys are associated with a given entity.

11-digit, numeric

Six-digit, numeric

119-digit PANs are used for V PAY in Europe.

2The length will be 10 digits when a four-digit network identifier is included.

3Existing BINs will remain six digits unless and until an issuer chooses to migrate them to eight digits. 

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