Visa BIN Attribute Sharing Service

Getting Started with Visa BIN Attribute Sharing Service

About Visa BIN Attribute Sharing Service

Visa’s BIN Attribute Sharing Service (VBASS) is an optional service that enables sharing of Visa BIN data with merchants and other entities to help improve authorization rates, reduce fraud and improve the general checkout experience.

As a part of VBASS, the Full BIN List, Single BIN Lookup, BIN Files Metadata and BIN File Transfer APIs are available to all developers in the Sandbox. Visa requires all recipients of the BIN attribute data, register and be billed for the service. Visa licensed acquirer or issuer can register an entity to participate into VBASS program. Except as otherwise agreed upon by Visa, participation is further subject to agreement to the VBASS specific terms, as well as Visa approval. A detailed overview of additional requirements, participation criteria, billing and exceptions can be found on Visa Online

Visa retains the right to review your project's implementation of these APIs before on-boarding to ensure that they are being used appropriately.

 

Learn more about implementing the VBASS APIs by watching the How to connect to VBASS tutorial. 

Availability

The following table lists the regional availability for Visa BIN Attribute Sharing Service. To view availability of all products, refer to the Regional Availability.

North America Asia-Pacific Europe CEMEA LAC Notes
    KEY
  • Available in entire region
  • Not available
  • See notes for available countries

Things to Know

VBASS has multiple APIs that give you different ways of accessing the Visa BIN Information - full BIN data extract or single BIN lookup. For full BIN data extract you can choose a JSON response implementation via Full BIN List API or a file stream implementation via BIN Files Metadata and BIN File Transfer APIs. For single BIN lookups you can connect to the Single BIN Lookup API.

 

Full BIN data extract : 

Entities will be presented with the below three levels of access while consuming the full BIN data extract either via the Full BIN List API or the file stream APIs-

o Level 1—Basic: This is the only subscription option that has no program fees and does not require registration, except for a relevant VDP Agreement and applicable onboarding fees.

o Level 2—Advanced: These issuer BIN attributes address most use cases and include account funding source, product ID, issuer country and others. See the Levels of Access section below for a complete list.

o Level 3—Complete: This is the most comprehensive list of issuer BIN attributes. It includes the attributes from the advanced level and account funding source subtype and issuer name.

 

Attribute Level 1 -  Basic         Level 2 - Advanced Level 3 - Complete Description
Issuer BIN Yes Yes Yes Bank Identification Number (BIN) of the issuer of the account.
Account Range Minimum/Maximum Yes Yes Yes Account/Token range min and max
Shared BIN Indicator Yes Yes Yes True if BIN shared by multiple issuers 
BIN Length Yes Yes Yes Provides BIN length - 6 or 8 digits 
POS Domestic Only Yes Yes Yes Domestic Only BIN or Account Ranges 
Online Gambling Block (Purchases) Yes Yes Yes Indicates whether Online Gambling is permitted or not 
PAN/Token Indicator   Yes Yes Indicates if  Pan or Token number
Issuer Billing Currency   Yes Yes Card issuance currency 
Issuer Country Code   Yes Yes Card issuance country
Product Platform   Yes Yes Indicates if  consumer BIN or commercial BIN
Product ID/Name   Yes Yes Indicates type of Visa product (e.g., Visa Signature, Visa Infinite, Visa Classic)
Account Funding Source   Yes Yes Indicates if credit, debit or prepaid
Settlement Match Indicator   Yes Yes Settlement Match 
Brand Indicator   Yes Yes Identifies if the brand or brands is associated with the account range. 
Commercial Card Level 2 Data Indicator   Yes Yes Indicates if transaction qualifies for Level 2 interchange rates
Commercial Card Level 3 Enhanced Data Indicator   Yes Yes Indicates if transaction qualifies for Level 3 interchange rates
Combo Card Indicator   Yes Yes Indicator for combo card
Exempt/Non-Exempt BINs (Regulated BINs)   Yes Yes Indicator for regulated BINs
Account Funding Source Subtype     Yes Indicates if reloadable or non-reloadable prepaid
Issuer Name     Yes Name of the Card Issuer
ALM Indicator     Yes Indicates if BIN or Account Range participate in Account Level Management 
VAU Indicator     Yes Visa Account Updater enabled indicator

Key Differences between Full BIN List API and BIN File Transfer API

 

Features BIN File Transfer Full BIN List
Response format CSV File stream JSON
BIN Attribute count (above table provides attribute list) 25 25
PAN/Token Filter Yes No
Calls required to retrieve entire dataset ~325 ~12000
Download Speed 2X faster than Full BIN List   

 

JSON implementation - Full BIN List API: This API allows entities to consume the full BIN data extract by paginating through the BIN range dataset. The client application will need to make multiple calls to this API to consume the entire dataset. The API response is tied to the entities access level.

File stream implementation: This implementaion allows entities to receive the full BIN data in file stream format. For optimal performance, the entire BIN data is split into multiple files that are ~5MB in size each. To download these file contents entities will need to call the BIN Files Metadata API to get the list of the BIN File names and then pass that to the BIN File Transfer API to see the contents of that file. The file contents is comma delimited. BIN Files Metadata and BIN File Transfer API also follow the data levels as described in the above table. 

BIN Files Metadata API: This API allows entities to retrieve the list of the BIN file names. When calling BIN files Metadata API, entities must pass P for Account range or T for token range as a parameter to receive the list of the account range or token range files. Along with file name, the file size, checksum and file creation date will be displayed. These additional details can be used to make sure that the entire file is consume. Entities need to make separate calls  for each of the account range and the token range file.  

BIN File Transfer API: This API allows entities to pass the BIN file name that was retrieved from the BIN Files Metadata API response to consume it. For each file download there needs to be a separate call made to this API with the respective file name. A successful response will file stream all the contents of the file in a comma delimited format. Entities will need to write code to read the file stream and save it at their end. Using the file size, record count and  checksum that was presented on the BIN Files Metadata response, entities can validate if each of files were completely downloaded. We use the md5sum checksum algorithm here. The attributes received in the BIN File Transfer API response will be tied to the approved access level of the entity. 

Single BIN-Lookup API: This API allows an entity to request issuer BIN attribute data on an account-by-account basis. This capability provides Level 3 data by default and includes Account Level Management data for product ID, as provided by participating issuers. The service supports both six and eight-digit BINs. To use the Single BIN Lookup API, you must provide a valid Visa Primary Account Number (PAN) or Token in the request message. The response message will list all the BIN attributes as listed under Level 3 - Complete column on the table above.

 

Refer to API Reference to learn more about every individual request and response parameters. A complete list of all of the related code values and their names can be found in the Request and Response Code Reference.

Any access and use for any of the above listed API requires the participant to be a Visa licensed acquirer or issuer (or sponsored by a participating Visa licensed acquirer or issuer) and is subject to approval by Visa for permissible use cases only. Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) compliance is required of all entities that store, process, or transmit Visa cardholder data, including financial institutions, merchants and service providers. The utilization of Single BIN Lookup API requires the participant to be PCI DSS compliant.

Please contact your Visa Account Representative with more information on how to register for and participate in the VBASS.