8-Digit BINs
In 2017, Visa announced it would adopt the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) eight-digit BIN, effective April 2022. With the expansion of payment methods in recent years, there has been a need to expand the number of Bank Identifying Numbers (BINs) in circulation.
Between 2020 and 2022, Visa has assigned eight-digit BINs to payment ecosystem participants with unique six-digit prefixes, meaning, the impact of six-digit prefix overlap was minimal. This decision was made to allow additional time for the ecosystem to refine system development needed to support this global industry change.
Visa anticipates that participants in the payments ecosystem will begin seeing eight-digit BINs with the same six-digit prefix across different issuers and product lines starting April 2023.
Verifi recommends our sellers work closely with their acquirer/processors to understand their readiness for the new BIN standardization.
Additionally, sellers may want to consider reviewing the following to ensure their internal processes or partners are ready for April 2022:
- Transaction routing with acquirer/processor
- Fraud prevention parameters
- Reporting, analytics, and reconciliation
Additional Resources:
- Verifi – Eight-digit BINs are Coming
- Numerics Initiative: Timing for BIN Prefix Sharing
- Preparing for Eight Digit BIN
- Numerics Initiative: Simplified Requirements for Eight-Digit Issuing BIN Adoption
- What Merchants Need to Know – Preparing for Eight-Digit BINs (article)
- What Merchants Need to Know – Preparing for Eight-Digit BINs (webinar)