As the payments industry continues to evolve, particularly in e-commerce, sellers are continuously searching for ways to operate more profitably (e.g., increase approval rates, reduce fraud) and differentiate their point-of-sale experience (e.g., online checkout customization). Visa BIN Attributes can help enhance a wide variety of seller needs, such as Loyalty & Offer Promotions, customer service efficiency, authorization and decline management, and much more.
Bank Identification Numbers (BINs) are 6-to-8-digit numbers licensed by Visa to issuers. Each licensed BIN has unique characteristics that Visa refers to as BIN Attributes. These BIN Attributes provide information such as the BIN’s product, issuer, licensed country, and more.
The global Visa BIN Attribute Sharing Service (VBASS) enables sharing of Visa BIN Attributes with merchants and other entities. Participants have two options to receive the data: connect directly to the VBASS APIs or obtain this data through acquirers/processors participating in VBASS.
VBASS APIs
VBASS includes two APIs that provide different ways of accessing the Visa BIN Attributes - the Full BIN List API and the Single BIN Lookup API.
The Full BIN List APIs (available in two formats: CSV, JSON) allow clients to request a full file list of issuer BIN Attributes. The Single BIN Lookup API allows clients to look up issuer BIN Attribute data on an account-by-account basis. With a recent upgrade on the Full BIN List API, new attributes have been added, such as BIN Length and Commercial Card Enhanced Data Indicators and download times have been significantly reduced.
For more information on the VBASS APIs, please refer to the VBASS overview page on Visa Developer Center. You can also learn How to Connect to the VBASS API by watching the video tutorial.
Benefits of obtaining BIN data from VBASS vs from third party providers off the internet
BIN information and ownership changes frequently and using third party tables can often result in sourcing inaccurate information. By obtaining BIN Attributes directly from Visa, sellers can ensure they are getting the most up-to-date information. Merchants and third parties may often rely on third party BIN databases to procure BIN data. Visa has found that this practice can often lead to acceptance issues, potentially causing unnecessary declines and impacts to payment operations processes.
Visa analyzed the accuracy of a leading third-party BIN database and found that across all analyzed BIN Attributes, only 32% of the third-party BIN data was accurate when compared to Visa data. Visa recommends obtaining Visa BIN files either directly through Visa’s APIs or from an acquirer or processor participating in the VBASS and do not use BIN data purchased on the Internet.
Have questions or want to learn more? Please contact your acquirer to discuss BIN table delivery options and visit Visa Developer Center for more information on obtaining BIN data directly via the Visa APIs.
