How does a BIN help route a payment to the right issuer?
The BIN tells the card network which issuer owns the card. The network looks up the BIN range and forwards the authorization to that issuer, which approves or declines it. PSPs also read the BIN earlier, to pick an acquirer, decide on 3-D Secure and apply routing rules by card brand or country.
In detail
The BIN tells the card network which issuer owns the card. When an authorization request arrives, the network looks up the BIN range in its routing tables and forwards the request to that issuer, or to its processor. The issuer then approves or declines.
The BIN is read before the network
PSPs read the BIN much earlier, as soon as the shopper types the card number. A BIN lookup tells them the brand, issuer country, funding type and product. With that, they can:
- pick the acquirer best placed for that card, for example a domestic acquirer for a domestic card;
- decide whether to request 3-D Secure;
- apply fraud and velocity rules by card type or country.
With several acquirers, BIN-based rules become a lever for acceptance and cost, as described in multi-acquiring. NORBr routing rules can use criteria such as card brand, card type or issuer country. More in What Is a BIN?.