Credit Card Numbers can be found on every credit cards, each having its own special significance. These are no irrationally placed numbers but they do follow a certain pattern known as Luhn formula which comes handy in cases of e-commerce test.
The
credit card numbers are arranged in accordance with the guidelines of the International Standards Organization (ISO) and the American National Standards Institute (ANXI X4.13).
Credit card numbers can have a maximum length of of 19 digits. In this numbering system, the leftmost digit is considered as the first digit because it has to be read from left to right. In this numbering system, each or collection of digits have their own special meaning. The value of these constellation of numbers have special meanings.
The digits or their specific combinations and their associated values of the
credit card numbers are described in the following :-
- The first digit helps in identifying the type of the major industry, for which the card has been issued, known as the Major Industry Identifier (MII). The values of the first digit ranging from 0 to 9 represent different industry type. “0” represents the category of issuer category of ISO/TC 68 and other industries. “1” stands for Airlines category, “2” for the Airlines and the associated assignments of the industry. “3” signifies the category of travel and the entertainment industry. “4” and “5” depicts banking and financial services industry. “6” stands for banking along with merchandising industry category. Petroleum category type is represented by the value “7”. The industry type relating to the telecommunication and associated industry assignments are depicted when the value “8” is placed in the first digit place. “9” signifies the assignments on a national level.
- The first six digits (including the first digit) help in identifying the issuer within a total of 1 million. This is known as “Issuer Identifier”.
- The individual account number stretches from the 7th digit up to the (n-1)th one. It can have a maximum length comprising of 12 digits. This arrangement of numbers is commonly called as “Account Number”.
- The last digit of the credit card number is known as “Check Digit”.
For more informations on
credit card numbers, you may browse through howstuffworks.com, marriampark.com and images.google.com.