A bin database is a collection of bin
numbers. Bin numbers are the first six digits on a credit card and they
represent the bank they were issued from. A bin range database contains the
range of numbers associated with each credit card company. A Discover bin
database is going to differ from a Visa bin database because the first six
digits of a Discover credit card will be unique to them and will differ from
the Visa bin numbers. By using a bin database program it is easy to find the
different bin numbers associated with each credit card company.
There are credit card companies that issue credit
cards in several different countries around the world. A UK bin database would
be used by a business in the UK and an American business would use a different
bin database. Each credit card company has a
different bin number for each country that it processes credit cards for.
There are bin database free software downloads on
the internet but bear in mind that the free programs are usually just demos and
that you should purchase the full version of the software so that you get a
complete bin database file. Some of the demos only come with a partial database
and this is really not very good if you process a lot of credit card
transactions from different countries around the world. You will want to make
sure that you have a proper bin database to work with.
There are quite a few different bin database
software programs that are available for purchase on the internet. The one
thing you want to watch for when purchasing a bin database checker is to make
sure that once you purchase the software that you do get frequent updates to
their bin databases to make sure your product is up-to-date and ready to check
against any credit card that you need it to check. There will always be new
credit card companies or new credit card products with a credit card company
that will be issued so an up-to-date bin database is an absolute must.
If you process credit card transactions for various
credit card companies, you will want to make sure you are using a bin
database for that credit card company. For instance, if you process credit
cards from Visa and Mastercard, your database needs to contain both Visa and
Mastercard bin numbers, otherwise, you are not going to be able to properly
check the credit card transactions properly for fraud or theft. If you are only
accepting Visa and Mastercard credit cards and your database only contains bin
database Mastercard and Visa card bin database, then you will be fine.
Preventing fraud and credit card theft is the number one concern of most
business owners these days because the number of credit card thefts that are
occurring worldwide these days is just staggering. It is easier to take a few
minutes at the time of the transaction to make sure the bin database
matches the credit card information matches.