Payment Card Glossary: Key Terms Defined
Published: October 20, 2026 · By Marcus Hale, Payment Systems Analyst
The vocabulary of the card industry, defined plainly and grouped by the layer each term belongs to.
Identifiers
- IIN / BIN
- The issuer identifier at the start of a PAN, allocated to an institution as a range.
- PAN
- Primary Account Number - the full card number, 13 to 19 digits.
- Account identifier
- The issuer-assigned portion of a PAN between the IIN and the check digit.
- Check digit
- The final digit of a PAN, derived with the Luhn algorithm.
Record formats
- Track 1 / Track 2
- The two magnetic stripe record formats defined in ISO/IEC 7813.
- Cryptogram
- A value generated by the chip that proves a genuine card transaction.
- Token
- A substitute identifier that replaces the PAN for storage and recurring use.
- TLV
- Tag, length, value - the encoding used for EMV data objects.
Authorisation and settlement
- Authorization
- The real-time decision on whether a transaction may proceed.
- Clearing
- The later netting of authorised transactions between institutions.
- Approval code
- The issuer's reference for an approved authorisation.
- Response code
- The standard code explaining the outcome of a request.
- Dispute
- A chargeback raised by the cardholder through their issuer.
Network and risk
- 3D Secure
- Cardholder authentication for card-not-present transactions.
- Velocity limit
- A cap on how often a card may be used in a period.
- Attempt counter
- A tally of failed authorisation attempts on an account.
- Service code
- A three-digit field in track data describing permitted use.