The Secret Of Credit Card Numbers

It is possible that you have once looked at your credit card number and wondered what all those digits really mean or what they stand for. Many people think that these credit card companies have so many clients and that is why they have to include a 16 digit code in all their credit card issues but this is not the reason. All of the digits that appear on the credit cards have a special meaning and function which only the card issuers know about. Almost all the credit card companies use the same system when choosing a credit card number for their clients but other types of cards like the department store cards, phone cards and gas cards have their own methods of selecting credit card numbers.

The first digit in the credit card number series will either be a 3, 4, 5, or 6 and each number represents the type of card that the holder possesses. All the credit cards that start with the number three are entertainment and travel cards like the Diners club or American express. The credit cards that have the number 4 as their first digit in the series are all Visa and Visa branded debit credit cards which are cards used to obtain money from an ATM or similar machines owned by banks. The credit cards that have number 5 as the first digit in their 16 digit code are all usually MasterCard and MasterCard branded debit credit cards and they are also used to obtain money from ATM machines which are owned by banks. The numbers that follow the first digit are usually used for other purposes only known by the credit card issuers but all of the numbers in the series have a specific use.

In the American express credit card, digits 3 and 4 are used to identify the type of card whether it is business or personal and currency used in the card holders country of origin. The next digits that follow are the account numbers of the card holder. The twelfth, thirteen and fourteenth digits stand for the card number and the last digit is the check digit. With the Visa credit cards, the second digit through to the sixth digit stands for the bank number. From the seventh digit all through to the twelfth digit are the account numbers which belong to the card holder and the last number in the series is the check digit. For the MasterCard, the second digits all through to the either the third or the sixth digits, is the bank number. All the other remaining digits in the series except the last one represent the account numbers of the card holder. The last digit in all the credit cards is usually the check number.
After reading this article you will have learnt the secret of the credit card numbers and this information should be kept secret by any credit card holder because if certain people gain access to this information, that person may use this information to defraud you.