How to Tell What Credit Card Type You Have by the First 4 Digits
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If you’re not sure what type of credit card you have, you can usually tell by looking at the first 4 digits of the card number. Here’s a quick guide to help you out.
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Introduction
In order to determine what type of credit card you have, you can look at the first four digits of the card number. These four digits are known as the Issuer Identification Number (IIN), which is also sometimes referred to as the bank identification number (BIN). The IIN is used to identify the card issuer within the payment system.
Visa credit cards always have a four-digit IIN that starts with a 4. Mastercard credit cards always have a four-digit IIN that starts with a 5. American Express credit cards always have a four-digit IIN that starts with a 3. Discover credit cards always have a four-digit IIN that starts with either 6011 or 65.
There are other issuers of credit cards, but these are the most common ones. If you have a credit card that doesn’t fit into one of these categories, it’s likely that it’s from a smaller issuer or it might be a prepaid card.
The First 4 Digits of a Credit Card
The first 4 digits of your credit card can tell you a lot about the type of card you have. For example, if you have a Visa card, the first 4 digits will always be “4147.” If you have an American Express card, the first 4 digits will be “34.” Here are the first 4 digits of some of the most popular credit card companies:
Visa
Visa cards always start with a 4. You can usually tell what type of Visa card you have by looking at the first four digits of the card number. Here are the types of Visa cards and the corresponding first four numbers:
-Visa Electron: 4026, 417500-4906, 4405, 4508, 4844, 4913, 4917
-Visa Debit: 4006, 4103, 4111, 416495
-Visa Credit: 4
-Visa Gift Cards: 443266
MasterCard
All MasterCard credit cards start with the number 5. The next digit can be 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6. Mastercards also have 16 digits.
Discover
The first four digits of a credit card are known as the issuer identification number (IIN). These four numbers identify the issuer of the card, which is financial institution that issued the card to the cardholder. The IIN is also sometimes referred to as the bank identification number (BIN).
The Discover Card’s IIN ranges from 6011 to 6599 and its length is 16 digits.
American Express
American Express cards all start with 34 or 37. American Express cards are also typically 15 digits, as opposed to the 16-digit cards that are common among other issuers.
Conclusion
The first four digits of a credit card number are known as the Issuer Identification Numbers (IIN), also called the bank identification number (BIN). These numbers identify the institution that issued the card to the cardholder. The first four digits will determine the type of card you have.
Type of Card:
– Any credit card that has 4 digits starting with 3 is an American Express
– Any credit card that has 4 digits starting with 4 is a Visa
– Any credit card that has 4 digits starting with 5 is a Mastercard
– Any credit card that has 4 digits starting with 6 is a Discover Card
