South Africa BIN & IIN Numbers by Bank

A BIN (Bank Identification Number), also called an IIN (Issuer Identification Number), is the first 6 to 8 digits of a payment card number. It identifies the card network (such as Visa or Mastercard), the issuing bank, and the card program (credit, debit, or prepaid). Modern cards use 8-digit BINs under ISO 7812.

We track BIN ranges for 38 banks and card issuers with operations in South Africa, covering 3,907 BIN ranges in total.

Select any bank from the grid on this page to see its full list of BIN ranges, card types, and supported networks. You can also enter the first 6 to 8 digits of any card directly into the lookup tool on our home page for an instant result that includes bank name, card brand, type, and validity.

Among the issuers tracked here, FIRSTRAND BANK, LTD. (1,988), NEDBANK, LTD. (514), DISCOVERY BANK, LTD. (433), ABSA BANK, LTD. (287), and STANDARD BANK OF SOUTH AFRICA, LTD. (134) hold the largest BIN portfolios. Note that some of these totals are combined across every country the issuer operates in, since not every source registry breaks BIN counts out by country.

The Type column in each bank's BIN table shows whether the range is assigned to a Credit, Debit, or Prepaid card.

Category (for example Standard, Gold, Platinum, or Business) is visible to all free BINSearchLookup accounts. It is hidden on the public preview so anyone can browse BIN ranges freely, while the full card-program details remain protected against bulk scraping.

BIN assignments change as banks add or retire card programs. BINSearchLookup refreshes its dataset on a rolling basis from card network range registries and issuer disclosures. The last-verified date shown on each bank page reflects when that specific page was last checked. Full sourcing and cadence details are on our methodology page.

No. A BIN identifies the issuer and card program, not an individual account or cardholder. To check whether a specific card number is valid and active in real time, for example for fraud screening, use the free lookup tool or API on our home page. This directory lists BIN ranges only.

Merchants and payment processors use BIN lookups for fraud detection (for example, flagging cards issued in unexpected regions), transaction routing, card verification during checkout, surcharge eligibility checks (credit vs. debit), and compliance screening. Developers also use BIN data for payment gateway integration testing.