8-digit BIN

A breakdown of BINs, and the change from 6-digit BINs to 8-digit BINs.

Overview

Effective April 2022, the International Standards Organization (ISO) announced that BIN numbers would increase from the standard 6-digits to 8 digits.
Visa will only assign 8-digit BINs after April 2022.
Issuers can set their own timeline to convert existing 6-digit BINs.
Pricing and programs are being used to encourage adoption of this change.

NOTE: Personal Account Number (PAN) length will not increase.

BIN stands for Bank Identification Number.
BINs are the first four to eight digits printed on a payment card.
BINs are used on a wide range of payment cards, including debit cards, credit cards, gift cards and prepaid cards.

BINs are used to:

Identify which financial institution issued the payment card. This can be done using websites such as BIN List.
Troubleshoot various declined transactions.

Over the years, the number of financial institutions who can issue payments cards has increased. This means that the number of payment cards with BINs has also increased.
The International Standards Organization (ISO) announced that BIN numbers would be changing from the existing fixed-length 6-digit BIN standard to 8-digits.
This change was implemented to prevent a shortage of supply of available BINs.

Potential risks include:

Scenario 1

The use of a 6-digit BIN to assess issuer country or type of product causes a disruption at point of transaction.
RISK: Lost sales and ill will from potential (or previous) Customers.

Scenario 2

The use of the first 6-digits to assess product type or country will spark a disruption between the buyer and seller.
RISK: Lost business opportunity and Customer ill will. Recurring payments and subscription services business estimated at $473 billion in 2021.

Scenario 1	Issuer A	Issuer B
Over 1000 Issuer B transactions are declined at a large US Merchant in one week. Issuer B is unable to explain why this is happening for their new credit program. The Acquirer and Visa are unable to explain why as they are not seeing the transaction. Further investigation reveals the Merchant was using an old 6-digit BIN table. The BIN was on the merchant’s Do Not Accept fraud management list. All the Issuer B transactions were recognized as Issuer A transactions.	Existing Eastern Europe Issuer converts its 6-digit BIN in an 8-digit BIN.	New US Issuer receives a brand new released 8-digit BIN.
Scenario 2	Issuer A	Issuer B
New Cardholder attempts to register a card at a bill pay Merchant, but it is repeatedly declined. New Cardholder then tries to register a card to pay for their new movie streaming channel. Not successful. Issuer B is unable to explain why this is happening, since the cardholder is in good standing. The Acquirer and Visa are unable to explain why as they are not seeing the declines. In each case, the Merchants advise they are unable to accept the card as their processes are based on reading 6-digit BINs for product type. They see this credit program as connected to a non-reloadable prepaid card.	Canadian Issuer converts its 6-digit Gift Card BIN into 8-digit format and releases 85 BINs.	US Issuer receives one of the released 8-digit BINs for their credit program.

Overview BINs Explained What is a BIN? What are BINs used for? BIN Change Explained Why are BINs changing? How are BINs changing? What does an 8-digit BIN look like? How does the BIN change impact me? Potential Risks Explained What are the potential risks of not being prepared? Potential risk scenarios