BIN Lookup Guide
A BIN (Bank Identification Number) is the first six digits of a card. This guide explains how to read it and links to the free BIN lookup tool.
By Daniel Cross, Senior Payment Systems Analyst · Last updated: 2026-10-20
What a BIN lookup does
A BIN lookup takes the first six to eight digits of a card number and returns what they identify: the issuing bank, the card brand, the product type, the card category and the country of issue. It is a read of a public allocation table, not a check on the account. Nothing is transmitted to the issuer, no attempt is made to reach the account, and the answer is the same for every card that starts with those digits.
- Reads the first six to eight digits of the number
- Returns issuer, brand, type, category and country
- Contacts nobody and authorises nothing
- Every card sharing the prefix has the same answer
The fields it returns
Six fields carry the signal, and each answers a different question. Together they are enough to check a listing against the public record of who issued a card and what product it was issued for.
| Field | Question it answers | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Issuer | Which bank issued it? | A savings bank, a credit union, a card issuer |
| Brand | Which network carries it? | Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover, Union Pay |
| Type | Credit, debit, prepaid or commercial? | CREDIT, DEBIT, PREPAID, COMMERCIAL |
| Category | What kind of product is it? | Standard, Commercial, Government, Purchasing |
| Country | Where was it issued? | The ISO country code of the issuing institution |
| Range | Which allocation block is it in? | The start and end prefix of the block |
How to use it
The procedure is the same whether you are checking a listing, reconciling a set of records, or implementing a checkout that wants to display the issuing bank. Take the first six digits, look them up, and compare every returned field against what you were told.
- Take the first six digits of the number
- Look them up in the dataset or the API
- Confirm the issuer, brand, type and country match the claim
- If the type is PREPAID, expect an empty balance to decline it
- If the country is not what was claimed, stop there
What it cannot tell you
This is the part that is most often misread. A BIN lookup says nothing about whether an account exists, whether it is active, whether it has funds, or whether it has been reported. All four are properties of the account, not of the prefix. A lookup that returns a perfect match for a six-digit prefix has told you about the allocation and nothing more.
| Question | BIN lookup | Authorisation |
|---|---|---|
| Who issued the card? | Yes | Yes |
| Which network carries it? | Yes | Yes |
| Is it credit or debit? | Yes | Yes |
| Which country issued it? | Yes | Yes |
| Does the account exist? | No | Yes |
| Is it active or blocked? | No | Yes |
| Does it have funds? | No | Yes |
| Has it been reported? | No | Yes |
Checking a listing against the public record
A listing that names a BIN can be checked against the public record of that prefix. If the issuer named in the listing does not exist in the data for that prefix, the listing is describing something other than the card it names. This is a cheap, offline check that requires no account and no contact with the issuer.
- If the listing names a BIN, look it up
- Confirm the issuer and country match what was claimed
- Confirm the brand matches the prefix family
- A listing that does not name a BIN cannot be checked this way, and that is itself the finding
- The dataset covers 374,788 prefixes across 225 countries, so most legitimate prefixes are covered
Coverage and limitations
The dataset is built from a published open source, cleaned and enriched. It is a snapshot, and BIN allocations change when issuers reorganise portfolios, so a prefix can be reassigned between issuers. Treat the answer as current as its date, and treat an unknown prefix as unknown rather than as evidence of anything.
- 374,788 prefixes covering 225 countries and 71 brands
- A snapshot of a published source, not a live query against the issuer
- Allocations change: a prefix can move between issuers
- An unknown prefix means unknown, not invalid
- The method and its limits are set out on the data sources page
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I look up a BIN?
Take the first six digits of the card number and search for them in the BIN database, or call the API with GET /api/bin/424242. Both return the issuer, brand, type, category and country.
What does a BIN lookup tell me?
Who issued the card, which network carries it, whether it is credit or debit, what category of product it is, and which country issued it.
Does a BIN lookup tell me if a card is valid?
No. It reads a public allocation table. Whether the account exists, is active, has funds or has been reported can only come from the issuer, and only through a transaction.
How many BINs are in the database?
374,788 prefixes, covering 225 countries, 71 card brands and 18,372 issuing institutions.
Why does a lookup sometimes say the BIN is unknown?
The dataset is a snapshot of a published source. A prefix allocated after the snapshot, or a typo, will not be found. Unknown means unknown, not invalid.
Can I use the lookup to check whether a card works?
No. It is a lookup, not a transaction. It tells you about the prefix; it tells you nothing about the account behind it.
Is there an API for the lookup?
Yes, a keyless REST endpoint: GET /api/bin/424242 returns the same fields as a single JSON object, and GET /api/bulk takes a list of prefixes. There is an OpenAPI specification at /openapi.json.