Guide to Balance Transfers
Tired of paying high credit card rates and fees? Try to decrease your interest payments by a simple balance transfer to another card. We will help you find the best Balance Transfer Cards here. Balance transfer is the most easy way of reducing your credit card costs. Another crucial thing has to be mentioned here - your understanding of the terms and conditions of a new credit card. That`s an important factor for maximizing the savings. Also be sure whether you would like to keep your current credit card. Before you apply for a new credit card, simply ask bank to lower your current interest rate. Read more... 
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
The numbers found on credit cards have a certain amount of internal structure,
and share a common numbering scheme.
The card number's prefix is the sequence of digits at the beginning of
the number that determine the credit card network to which the number belongs. The card number's
length is its number of digits.
The prefixes and lengths for the most common card types are:
Forms of Currency for Traveling
There are several types of currency that you may use while traveling. If you make right choice and take suitable form of currency with you, you can receive the best bang for your travel budget. There are three major kinds of currency travelers carry abroad: checks, credit cards and ATM cards. The option you choose should allow you get the best exchange rates and offer as much convenience and safety as possible. Each form of currency has number of advantages and disadvantages, so you should carefully measure it before making choice. Read more...
Card Type |
Prefix(es) |
Length |
American Express |
34 or 37 |
15 |
BankCard |
560–561 |
16 |
Diners Club / Carte Blanche* |
300–305, and 38 |
14 |
Discover Card |
6011,6500–6509** |
16 |
JCB |
3 |
16 |
JCB |
1800,2131 |
15 |
MasterCard |
51–55, 36 |
14,16 |
Visa |
4 |
13 or 16 |
*As of November 8, 2004 , MasterCard purchased the domestic ( US ) Diner's
Club bin range. Diner's Club International BIN range will remain (starting with 38), but
the 36 bin range will now be processed as MasterCards.
**As of October 1st, 2005 , Discover Bank will include a new BIN in the
range of 650000–650999.
In addition, the first 6 digits of the credit card number are known as
the Bank Identification Number (BIN). These identify the institution that issued the
card to the card holder.
Fraudulent Transactions
Many banks that are the Issuers and Acquirers installed different fraud detection systems that determine according to special algorithms suspicious transactions on a cardholder accounts or a merchant premises as well. After detection banks have to take the necessary actions to investigate the suspicious transactions and confirm with the legal cardholder if these transactions were made by him. If the response from genuine cardholder is negative that means they`ve got a credit card fraud! Read more... Some credit card issuers choose to restrict the card numbers they issue
to those which pass a checksum test, where the final digit of the card number is used
to confirm the initial digits.
This has two benefits of preventing casual attempts to invent credit
numbers (only one in ten will be valid), and also prevent mistakes when the card number
is manually recorded. The checksum test for credit card numbers is the Luhn formula ,
described in Annex B to ISO/IEC 7812, Part 1.
American Express, in particular follows the following specific algorithm:
- First 4 numbers, country code, currency code and card type
(ie charge or credit card)
- Next 2, card type (ie gold, platinum)
- Next digit, billing cycle
- Next 4 digits, account number
- Fourth from last, card issue (begins at 1 and will go up if it's
replaced because the card is lost or stolen)
- Next two, card issued under the account (ie if there are additional
card holders. begins at 00 and increments)
- Last number, Luhn-10 check digit (used for verification)
Credit Cards: History and Controversy
Credit card was the successor of a different merchant`s schemes of credit. It was introduced in 1920s, in America, to sell gasoline to an increasing number of car owners. In 1938 several fuel companies started to accept each other`s cards. Read more... |
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