Credit Card Numbers: What Every Digit Means
Blog post from Basis Theory
Credit card information is structured to route, authenticate, and secure payment transactions, with the Primary Account Number (PAN) identifying the card network, issuing institution, individual account, and a final check digit used to detect entry errors. The first six to eight digits form the Bank or Issuer Identification Number, whose first digit, the Major Industry Identifier, signals the card network or industry category, while the remaining PAN digits identify the cardholder account. PCI DSS separates payment data into Cardholder Data, which may be stored with appropriate controls, and Sensitive Authentication Data, such as CVV/CVC codes, full magnetic-stripe data, and EMV chip data, which merchants generally cannot retain after authorization. Security codes help validate card-not-present purchases, while EMV chips improve in-person security by generating a unique transaction code rather than relying on the static data held on magnetic stripes. The material emphasizes that organizations handling payment information face compliance and security responsibilities, and presents tokenization as an approach for processing payments without retaining raw card data and expanding PCI DSS scope.
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