Overview
The VGS Card Attributes Service delivers powerful insights about any card. This service facilitates well-informed, automated decisions in your payment flows using payment credentials. It delivers a comprehensive set of attributes, including card brand, issuer, country, and more. With the data this service delivers, you can make more informed risk decisions, support loyalty programs, and enhance your customers' experience.
The service can deliver attributes from a full PAN, a six-digit IIN, or a card PAN's token/alias from your VGS Vault.
The anatomy of a card's PAN
There is a lot one can get just from a credit card number. The VGS Card Attributes Service enhances this data with other attributes only available through the use of the Card Attributes Service.
Major Industry Identifier (MII) (First Digit): This number reveals the card's network and issuing industry. For instance, a "4" indicates Visa, "5" indicates Mastercard, and "6" indicates Discover. The number "3" is usually American Express.
Issuer Identification Number (IIN) (Digits 1-6): The first digit (MII) is combined with the next five digits from the IIN (also sometimes called BIN). This number is unique to the financial institution, usually a bank or credit union, that issued the card.
Individual Account Number (Digits 7-15/14): These digits exclusively identify the cardholder account with the card issuer.
Check Digit (Last Digit): This final number is a security measure. It's calculated using the Luhn algorithm based on the preceding digits. If someone tries to use a fake card number, there's a high chance the check digit won't validate using the Luhn algorithm, alerting the processor of potential fraud.
Extra attributes available through the Card Attributes Service
The following attributes are available through this service
bin
bin number
Basic
brand
The card brand facilitates payment transactions. Eg: Visa, Mastercard, Discover
Basic
issuing_organization
The bank that issued the card to the customer. Eg: Chase, Bofa, USBank
Basic
card_type
The type of card that is issued by the issuing bank. Eg: Credit , Debit
Basic
card_category
Category of Card. Eg: BUSINESS , PREPAID
Basic
issuing_country_name
ISO country name that is associated with an ISO code. Eg: USA, United Kingdom
Basic
issuing_country_code
Issuing country ISO number: Eg 840 for USA
Basic
maximum_pan_length
maximum PAN length
Basic
card_commercial_type
Defines if the BIN is PERSONAL or COMMERCIAL
Basic
regulation_status
Defines if the BIN is regulated or non-regulated
Basic
version
Date at which the returned data was last updated
Basic
prepaid_type
Indicates if the card is a prepaid debit card
Advanced
cobadged_brands
Lists the network co-badges of the card, if applicable
Advanced
Benefits of using the Card Attributes API in your payments applications
Enhanced Checkout experience: Retrieve real-time card attributes for pre-filling and enhancing checkout forms.
Intelligent Payment Orchestration: Intelligent payment routing for faster authorization and lower costs using card-specific data.
Subscription Payment Management: Identify non-reloadable prepaid cards to optimize subscription payment flows and minimize failed retries.
Advanced Fraud Detection: Advanced fraud detection using BIN data and other risk factors.
Streamlined Transaction Troubleshooting: transaction troubleshooting using detailed BIN data and card attributes.
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