BIN — is the first 6–8 digits of a bank card number. Simply put, it is the beginning of the card number that can be used to determine which bank and card type it belongs to.
For example, if a card number starts with 427650, these six digits will be the BIN. One BIN is used for a large number of cards, so it does not identify a specific cardholder.
Using special BIN databases, these digits can be used to identify the issuing bank, country of issue, payment system (Visa, Mastercard, MIR, etc.), card type and other characteristics.
Why BIN is needed in traffic arbitrage
In traffic arbitrage, bank cards (physical or virtual) are often used to pay for advertising. BIN is important here for several reasons:
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Passing anti-fraud checks: advertising platforms evaluate payment methods differently. Cards from certain banks or countries may trigger security systems more often, causing payments to be declined. Affiliate marketers look for stable BINs that can be linked successfully.
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GEO matching: to launch advertising in a specific country, cards issued in the same region or in countries with similar financial conditions are often selected.
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Card type and characteristics: credit, debit and prepaid cards may work differently when paying for advertising, which affects the success of advertising budget charges.
How affiliate marketers use BINs
Before issuing virtual cards through payment services, teams test working BINs. If cards from a certain bank stop processing payments reliably, people in the traffic arbitrage industry say that the «BIN is dead» — meaning it no longer works properly and new options need to be found.
Important: BIN refers not to a specific card or its owner, but to a range of numbers. Therefore, a BIN alone cannot be used to determine who owns the card.
