What is a BIN/IIN?
A Bank Identification Number (BIN), formally known as the Issuer Identification Number (IIN) under ISO/IEC 7812, is the first 6-8 digits of a payment card number that identifies the issuing institution and the card scheme. As of April 2022, IINs migrated from 6 to 8 digits to expand allocation capacity. BIN/IIN drives card scheme routing, interchange determination, fraud risk scoring, and product-level features.
What BIN reveals
- Card scheme: Visa (starts 4), Mastercard (51-55, 2221-2720), American Express (34, 37), Discover (6011, 65), JCB (35), UnionPay (62), Troy (9792).
- Issuer: specific bank or financial institution.
- Country of issuance: derived from the issuer.
- Card type: credit, debit, prepaid; consumer vs. commercial.
- Product tier: Standard, Gold, Platinum, World, Infinite, Business.
Which bank issues cards starting with 9792?
9792 does not identify a single bank: it is the prefix of Troy, Türkiye’s domestic card scheme. Troy cards are issued by different banks, and the issuing bank is identified by the digits that follow 9792 and complete the BIN. The first four digits alone therefore do not tell you the bank; the bank name printed on the card does.
BIN in fintech operations
- Routing: determining the acquirer-issuer path for authorisation.
- Interchange: different BIN ranges carry different interchange fees.
- Fraud scoring: BIN-level historical fraud rates feed risk models.
- BIN attacks: automated card-testing attacks rely on enumerating valid BIN+ranges: detection and rate-limiting are essential.
- Cross-border acceptance: some merchants restrict by BIN country.
Why BINs matter in fintech deals
BIN access is a gating asset in card programs: issuing requires a BIN sponsor (a principal scheme member) unless the fintech holds its own membership and licence, and the sponsorship agreement is the program’s legal backbone: allocating scheme compliance, chargeback liability, settlement flows, reserve requirements and termination mechanics. In diligence on card-issuing startups, the questions are standard: whose BIN, what exclusivity and migration rights, which party owns the cardholder relationship and data, and what happens to live cards if the sponsorship ends. BIN-range data also feeds fraud and routing engines; using it accurately is operationally critical since misidentifying card type or issuer country breaks fee calculations and compliance screening alike.