Question

Explain briefly Anatomy of a credit card.

Answer 1

All Payment cards (including debit card) are usually plastic cards of size 85.60 mm width × 53.98 mm height, rounded corners with a radius of 2.88 mm to 3.48 mm and thickness of 0.76 mm. These standards dimensions are maintained universally in accordance with ISO/IEC 7810#ID-1.

• Publisher: Emblem of the issuing bank.
• Credit card number:
  The modern credit card number has 16-digit unique identification number.

1. The first digit of the credit card number is Major Industry Identifier (MII). It identifies the issuer category. e.g. 1 – Airlines, 4 – Banks.
2. The next 5 digits uniquely identify the issuing organization.
3. The first 6 digits together called as Issuer Identifier number (IIN) or Bank Identification number (BIN.
4. The next 9 digits are the account number.
5. The last digit is a check digit (based to the Luhn algorithm).

• Name of the cardholder:
  It is visibly embossed on the front side (additionally stored on the magnetic stripe) some cards like gift cards do not hold any name.
• EMV chip:

1. It is integrated chip in addition to a magnetic stripe to store cardholder’s information. EMV stands for Europay, MasterCard, Visa.
2. These three names correspond to the names of the companies which are responsible to develop this technology.
3. It is categorized into Chip-and signature and Chip-and-PIN.

• RFID symbol:

1. It is four curved lines radiating rightwards similar to a tilted Wi-Fi symbol.
2. It indicates that it is a contactless smartcard.

• Expiration month and year:

1. It is visible on the front side (also stored on the magnetic stripe or chip).
2. The card is valid until the last day of the month printed on it.

• Card brand logo:

1. It is the name of the credit card network company.
2. Visa and MasterCard are leading credit card network companies. Rupay is Indian domestic open loop card launched in 2012.

• Magnetic stripe:
  It is an iron based magnetic material containing encrypted data about the card holder and account number.
• Hologram: 

1. Hologram is a security feature that prevents duplication.
2. It is a 3-dimentional image formed by interference of light beams.

• Signature:

1. It is cardholder’s signature at the back of the card, used as an attempt to identify the cardholder’s identity.
2. It also holds the last 4 digits of the card number.

• CVC/CVV:

1. Card Verification code/ value is a 3 digit code usually printed to the left of signature pane validates the card.
2. CVC2 is used in contact less transactions.