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Card attributes

A card is a physical or virtual endpoint for a cardholder account, which allows them to make purchases or pay for services.

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TIP

The first number of a PAN is known as the Major Industry Identifier (MII) and identifies the card scheme the card is associated with, for example:

  • 3/37: American Express
  • 4: Visa
  • 5: Mastercard
  • 6: Discover

Physical card attributes

Cards might be small, but in the tiny space they occupy, they contain considerable information and technology. Physical payment cards commonly use the ISO/IEC 7810 ID-1 format, and have the same standardised dimensions (85,60mm x 53,98mm x 0,76 mm).

Dependent on the transaction type, specific sets of physical card attributes included in the transaction message data, are verified and validated against the source record. If one of these data points fails or is a mismatch against the source record then the transaction may be declined.

Physical card attributes include:

  • Contactless antenna: a tiny wire looped and embedded inside the card, that amplifies radio signals to and from the EMV chip and enables NFC (near-field communication) between the card and a POS device.
  • CVC/CVV (Card Verification Code/Card Verification Value): a 3 or 4 digits code that is required as an extra authentication step when making purchases in which the card cannot be presented physically, and the cardholder cannot insert their PIN.
  • Embossed name: typically this is the cardholder's name and can include prefix titles and initials. In some cases, the embossed name may be replaced or include a company name.
  • EMV chip: contains the card data necessary for transactions at a POS (point-of-sale), that is read when the card is inserted or is transmitted contactless. EMV is a global standard for the characteristics of chip cards and other devices such as ATMs or POS terminals, designed to allow interoperability between different chip cards and terminals.
  • Expiry date: is the month and year (MM/YY) the card is operational till. The card is able to be used up to and including the last day of the expiry month. For example, if a card had the expiry of 11/27 - the card can still be used on the 30th November 2027, but would not be operational on the 1st December 2027.
  • Hologram: most card schemes employ a holographic security design on their branded cards. You may find this on the front or back of the card and it is used as an additional security mechanism in Card Present transactions to mitigate counterfeit card fraud.
  • Magnetic stripe (magstripe): a thin layer of magnetic film plastered on the card, that contains the card data.
  • PAN: uniquely identifies a cardholder account. The first 6 digits of the PAN compose the BIN and identify the issuing bank and scheme. The following 9 digits represent the cardholder. The last digit is a control number.
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IMPORTANT

Some card schemes may have additional requirements or parameters that must be met. You should always refer to your card schemes documentation regarding their physical card attribute specifications.


Virtual card attributes

Virtual cards are cards whose information is held inside a mobile device or app (typically the app of the issuer bank). They can either have a physical counterpart, or be virtual-only.

Cardholders can access the card’s data (PAN, CVV and expiry) from the digital card on their mobile device or laptop, and use it for CNP transactions (such as e-commerce purchases).

These types of cards can also be added to mobile payment wallets such as Apple Pay or Samsung Pay through the tokenisation process and used in physicalPOS.

Dependent on the transaction type, specific sets of virtual card attributes included in the transaction message data, are verified and validated against the source record. If one of these data points fails or is a mismatch against the source record then the transaction may be declined.

Virtual card attributes include:

  • CVC/CVV (Card Verification Code/Card Verification Value): a 3 or 4 digits code that is required as an extra authentication step when making purchases in which the card cannot be presented physically, and the cardholder cannot insert their PIN.
  • Embossed name: typically this is the cardholder's name and can include prefix titles and initials. In some cases, the embossed name may be replaced or include a company name.
  • Expiry date: is the month and year (MM/YY) the card is operational till. The card is able to be used up to and including the last day of the expiry month. For example, if a card had the expiry of 11/27 - the card can still be used on the 30th November 2027, but would not be operational on the 1st December 2027.
  • PAN: uniquely identifies a cardholder account. The first 6 digits of the PAN compose the BIN and identify the issuing bank and scheme. The following 9 digits represent the cardholder. The last digit is a control number.

Updated 7 months ago