Credit Card: Is your credit card valid or not? This is how Amazon-Flipkart finds out..

Even though you have been using credit cards for years, there are still many things related to credit cards that you are not even aware of. Recently, a software engineer working as a solution architect in an MNC and a person fond of online shopping shared a thread on X (earlier Twitter) which explained how a credit card number works.

Apart from this, FinPal also posted on X and said Have you ever wondered how online portals (Amazon and Flipkart) instantly find out whether the credit card number is valid or not, and what bank offers are available related to the card? In a conversation with ET Wealth Online, FinPal has informed that credit card numbers are not random; they are generated using a hidden algorithm for quick validation and to make banking easier.

How is the validation of a credit card number done?

According to Finpal, banks use the Luhn Algorithm to verify the credit card number provided by the user. Finpal said that the algorithm checks whether the sum of all the numbers (adding every second digit by doubling it) is divisible by 10. If it is divisible by 10, then the credit card number is valid.

The bank uses the BIN (Bank Identification Number) system, the first 6 to 8 digits of the card number tell the portal who has issued the card, and the portal uses the BIN range to check whether offers are available on your card or not.

Visa or Mastercard, how is the card traced?

Finpal says that the first digit gives information about the Major Industry Identifier (MII), which identifies the card network. The first 6-8 digits are BIN (Bank Identification Number), which gives information about the bank and card type, such as Visa Infinite and a particular card such as HDFC Infinia.

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