BIN Validation

Owned by Jonathan Tew
Last updated: Aug 17, 2016 by Loyd James (Unlicensed)Version comment
3 min read

BIN Validation

BIN Validation

UltraCart can utilize a 3rd party service to check if a credit card BIN (the first six digits) is a prepaid credit card. This system does not guarantee to block 100% of the pre-paid cards out. This is a good idea if you're doing a free trial and trying to block pre-paid cards from being used to abuse your offer. Who needs BIN validation?

BIN validation is typically used by merchants who are marketing a free trial offer and/or using a 3rd party affiliate network. By validating the BIN and blocking prepaid/gift cards it will eliminate two potentially huge problems:

  • Customers using a gift card to get the free product knowing there is no chance that they can be re-billed when they don't return it.
  • Affiliates using gift cards to place fraudulent sales and receive the commissions.

The math on either type of fraud is very simple. If the product costs $5 to manufacturer, $5 to ship, and then $40 of commission to the affiliate then a prepaid/gift card used to obtain the product with no chance of a rebill equates to a $45 loss for the merchant. So if a merchant loses $45 for each fraudulent transaction on their free trial, then as long as they block 1 out of 900 transaction attempts they will break even on the cost of BIN validation. Some UltraCart merchants utilizing external BIN validation have reported it blocking 10-15% of the attempts when they launched their free trial campaign.

Enabling Bin Validation

Enabling Bin Validation is accomplished in our Fraud Prevention Section.

Navigate:

HOME →  CONFIGURATION →  CHECKOUT →  Fraud Prevention

Scroll down to the Credit Card Rules section.  Then locate the "if credit card BIN is" rule.  Enter the BIN numbers as demonstrated below.  Also set the action desired from the drop down list and the click the "Apply" button.

Filter BIN Rule to certain store Items

Once you've clicked the "Apply" button the following screen will appear.  This screen allows you to add a message that will appear on the order within the Merchant Notes field.  The customer will NOT see this information.  

You can also set Item Filters on this screen.  This forces this rule to only apply to any Item Id you've listed in the box.  Leave blank to apply to all items. 

 

Example of Message to the Customer

Here is an example of what the customer will see if they try to use a card with matching BIN number.