David talks about the most important things for small businesses to keep in mind when setting up credit card processing. This includes staying away from long term contracts, avoiding cancellation fees, putting your best foot forward for approval, getting lower rates, having automatic rate reductions built into your agreement, and addressing technical concerns so everything works smoothly upon launch.
In the latest episode of our merchant education series we tackle the seemingly simple topic of costs. In addition to exploring the discount rate and interchange costs, we outline and provide some metrics for the actual rate you should be willing to pay for your business.
Why do some businesses get lower credit card processing costs than others? In this video David explores the criteria that cause some businesses to get lower rates than others and techniques that you can use to reduce your processing costs.
If you've ever been confused by the difference between a merchant account, a payment gateway and processor you are not alone. In this discussion we break down the role each of those elements play, and how they affect your overall processing costs.
In order to accept credit card payments a business needs a merchant account. In this article we explain what a merchant account is, how to get one for your business, and the costs involved.
There is a lot of confusion when it comes to pricing in the payments industry. The most important cost of all is the discount rate. Learn what the discount rate is and why it's the most important and significant cost when processing credit card transactions.
Making the wrong choice can be costly when choosing a payment processor. David explores 3 of the most common mistakes so you can avoid them when choosing your credit card processor.
The debit system in Canada is called Interac. It's totally different from Visa or MasterCard so it works in its own unique way when it comes to making purchases online.
If you've not accepted credit cards previously you may wonder how long it takes to get your money. In this video David explores the most popular funding schedules for e-commerce and brick-and-mortar merchants.
How to pick a good credit card processor for your business. David gives advice so you can ask the right questions, avoid mistakes, and figure out which payment processors have the potential to be a good solution for your business.
When you work with a payment processor it becomes a long-term partnership. It requires a deep integration if you're doing e-commerce payments, and will have a long-term cost impact on your business. Outages are problems along the way can cause a major issue. In this video David explains when and how to look for references when searching for a payment processor for your business.
An original credit transaction is where a merchant sends money (gives money) to a cardholder. It's a unique service, but merchants should be very careful when using it.
MCC stands for Merchant Classification Category. Every type of business that accepts Visa or Mastercard has a MCC code associated with their business. David explains why the MCC code used for your business can impact the approval rate for your transactions (the wrong MCC code can result in more declined transactions), as well as the costs that you pay when opening your merchant account.
Certain types of businesses are more difficult to administrate from a payment processing perspective than others. In this video David explains what Visa HBR and Mastercard BRAM fees are, how much they cost, and why they apply to some businesses but not others.
Most credit card processors will ask for a copy of the most recent balance sheet and profit and loss statement when you apply to get a merchant account. David explains why payment processors care about company financials, how it can impact your application, and what you can do if the financials for your company are not as good as you'd like.
What is a credit card BIN number?
(Slightly edited from video transcript for greater readability)
Key Takeaways
1
Credit Cards Numbers Aren't Random
Credit card numbers aren't totally random. All cards issued follow a specific format, and have a unique 16 digit number, generated via the Luhn Algorithm.
2
The BIN number
The first 6 digits on a credit card are the BIN number. They contain information about the card such as which bank issued the card.
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Hello, David here at Merchant-Accounts.ca. This will be a pretty short one today. What is a Bank Identification Number BIN for a credit card? Stay tuned. We'll dig in in one second.
Credit Card Numbers
Credit card numbers are not random. Every credit card issued has a specific but unique set of numbers, generated by an algorithm called the Luhn Algorithm. If you've ever been filling out a website and it's validating the card number as you're typing it in, that's the Luhn algorithm in action. It's a basic check to see if the card appears valid.
What is a BIN number?
BIN Number stands for Bank Identification Number. Credit card numbers are 16 digits long, and the fhe first several digits of number contain a whole bunch of information about the card. Specifically, it's the first six digits of the number that are known as the BIN, and that is we're talking about.
If a credit card starts with a 3, it's an Amex or a Diner's Card. If it starts with a 4, it's a Visa. If it starts with a 5, it's a MasterCard. If it starts with a 6, it's a Discover. The next several digits are going to give more information.
The first thing it will identify is the issuing bank. For example, a Visa that starts with 4520. That's going to be a TD Canada Trust Visa card, meaning TD Canada Trust issued that Visa card. It can also identify, sometimes, the type of card, for example, a Visa Infinite card or a Visa Business card. In some cases, it can also indicate whether it's a debit card, a prepaid card, or a credit card, but not always. It depends on the bank because not all financial institutions build the card out in the same way.
Bin Check
If you have the first 6 digits of a card you can use a BIN check service to find out more about that card. There are a lot of free online services that you can use and just type in the number. It will tell you who the issuer is.
In some cases, it's really good as an anti-fraud tool. For example, if you have a customer and they typed in their shipping address to the US, but the card was issued in Malaysia, then that's a pretty good indicator. It doesn't mean that it's fraud, but it's worth investigating. To look up the BIN, you can go to Google, and you can use any number of online services. I'm not sure which ones are the best, so I'm not going to recommend one over another.
There are some services where you can sign up for an API, and every time you run an order, you can do a bin lookup for that transaction, and it will tell you who the card issuer is. If desired, merchants can build it into their anti-fraud system, but that's probably only for larger or more sophisticated merchants, but it is an option.
Summary
In summary, a credit card BIN, or more accurately, a bin range refers to the first six digits on a credit card. It indicates the brand of the card, Visa or MasterCard, which bank or financial institution issued that card, in what country, and possibly what type of card it is (like an infinite card or reward card, a debit, or a credit card).
With that, I don't think there's much more I can say except that if you would like a quote for payment processing for your business, we work super closely with our clients at Merchant-Accounts.ca. We'd love to hear from you. Reach out to us on our website. Other than that, thanks for watching and have a nice day. Bye now.
David talks about the most important things for small businesses to keep in mind when setting up credit card processing. This includes staying away from long term contracts, avoiding cancellation fees, putting your best foot forward for approval, getting lower rates, having automatic rate reductions built into your agreement, and addressing technical concerns so everything works smoothly upon launch.
In the latest episode of our merchant education series we tackle the seemingly simple topic of costs. In addition to exploring the discount rate and interchange costs, we outline and provide some metrics for the actual rate you should be willing to pay for your business.
Why do some businesses get lower credit card processing costs than others? In this video David explores the criteria that cause some businesses to get lower rates than others and techniques that you can use to reduce your processing costs.
If you've ever been confused by the difference between a merchant account, a payment gateway and processor you are not alone. In this discussion we break down the role each of those elements play, and how they affect your overall processing costs.
In order to accept credit card payments a business needs a merchant account. In this article we explain what a merchant account is, how to get one for your business, and the costs involved.
There is a lot of confusion when it comes to pricing in the payments industry. The most important cost of all is the discount rate. Learn what the discount rate is and why it's the most important and significant cost when processing credit card transactions.
Making the wrong choice can be costly when choosing a payment processor. David explores 3 of the most common mistakes so you can avoid them when choosing your credit card processor.
The debit system in Canada is called Interac. It's totally different from Visa or MasterCard so it works in its own unique way when it comes to making purchases online.
If you've not accepted credit cards previously you may wonder how long it takes to get your money. In this video David explores the most popular funding schedules for e-commerce and brick-and-mortar merchants.
How to pick a good credit card processor for your business. David gives advice so you can ask the right questions, avoid mistakes, and figure out which payment processors have the potential to be a good solution for your business.
When you work with a payment processor it becomes a long-term partnership. It requires a deep integration if you're doing e-commerce payments, and will have a long-term cost impact on your business. Outages are problems along the way can cause a major issue. In this video David explains when and how to look for references when searching for a payment processor for your business.
An original credit transaction is where a merchant sends money (gives money) to a cardholder. It's a unique service, but merchants should be very careful when using it.
MCC stands for Merchant Classification Category. Every type of business that accepts Visa or Mastercard has a MCC code associated with their business. David explains why the MCC code used for your business can impact the approval rate for your transactions (the wrong MCC code can result in more declined transactions), as well as the costs that you pay when opening your merchant account.
Certain types of businesses are more difficult to administrate from a payment processing perspective than others. In this video David explains what Visa HBR and Mastercard BRAM fees are, how much they cost, and why they apply to some businesses but not others.
Most credit card processors will ask for a copy of the most recent balance sheet and profit and loss statement when you apply to get a merchant account. David explains why payment processors care about company financials, how it can impact your application, and what you can do if the financials for your company are not as good as you'd like.
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My name is David Goodale, CEO at Merchant Accounts.ca. I launched our business in 2001 and have over 20 years of expertise in the field of online payments. If you have a payments related question or project, and especially if it relates to multi-currency or international e-commerce don't hesitate to contact me. I'm always happy to help with an honest opinion, and enjoy chatting with folks from interesting businesses.
