![\"16digits-01\"](\"http:\/\/www.abtek.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/16digits-01-150x150.jpg\")
If you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve ever had to manually key a credit card number into an\u00c2\u00a0automated phone system, you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve probably wondered why the number is so long. Actually, each digit in a credit card number is important for validation, security and identification during credit card processing. Take a moment to learn what each of these digits means.<\/p>\n
The Origin of the 16 Digits on Credit Card Numbers<\/strong><\/p>\n Card numbers have been standardized according to ISO\/IEC<\/a>\u00c2\u00a07812-1:2006<\/a> since 1989. This document is from the International Organization for Standardization, and it is this standardization that allows consumers to use some credit cards anywhere on the planet.<\/p>\n Taken together, the first six digits are called the issue identifier number<\/em>, or IIN. In the past, these numbers were called the bank identification number, or BIN. Since not all issuers are banks, this name changed, but you might still see references to a BIN or bank identification number in some references. In any case, credit card issues register their unique IIN numbers with the American National Standards Institute.<\/p>\n These numbers uniquely identify the person holding the account. The card issuer allocates them, and they are unique for the issuer that generates them. You could have a different identifier for different cards from the same issuer.<\/p>\n Digit 16: Check Digit<\/strong><\/p>\n The last digit is called a check digit, and it is used to verify card Rather, this last digit is only intended to verify that a credit card number was not accidentally typed in wrong when making phone or online payments, and that is how it is used in credit card processing today.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" If you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve ever had to manually key a credit card number into an\u00c2\u00a0automated phone system, you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve probably wondered why the number is so long. Actually, each digit in a credit card number is important for validation, security and identification during credit card processing. Take a moment to learn what each of these digits means. The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":188,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-151","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-history-of-credit-cards"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t
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<\/a>Digits 1 – 6: Issue Identifier Number<\/strong><\/p>\n\n
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<\/a>Digits 7 – 15: Unique Personal Identifier <\/strong><\/p>\n
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<\/a>numbers for accuracy. Because it is calculated according to a public domain formula called the Luhn algorithm, it is not intended to protect against malicious attacks against merchant services of POS systems. In fact, the patent<\/a> for the Luhn algorithm dates back to 1960, and examples of computer code to calculate the final digit are freely available online.<\/p>\n