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MasterCard 2-Series BIN Acceptance

In May 2015, MasterCard announced plans to add an additional 2-Series Bank Identification Number (BIN) range to their existing 5-series BIN range.  In other words, MasterCard has begun issuing credit cards beginning with the number "2" in addition to cards beginning with "5."  MasterCard has confirmed that the new primary account BIN ranges 222100-272099 will be processed in the same manner as existing range 510000-559999. The new 2-Series range is traditionally reserved for airline cards, like the Diners Club enRoute card. Unfortunately, not all payment systems are equipped to handle 2-Series BIN cards because they are not historically widely used.

As of July 1, 2017, MasterCard began conducting tests to verify that merchants have the necessary infrastructure equipped to accept 2-Series BIN cards. This includes every step in the payments process; from POS terminals to third-party vendors, merchants must be able to accept these new cards. Failure may result in penalties applied directly to merchants’ accounts. These penalties will increase based on the number of days passed since the July 1 deadline:

MasterCard’s expansion into the 2-Series BIN impacts merchants in both the brick-and-mortar and eCommerce environments. Online sellers must ensure that they are ready to accept the 2-Series MasterCards from multiple applications, including:

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  •  Web Apps

  •  Shopping Cart & Checkout Software

  •  Payment Gateways

  •  Proprietary Systems

  •  Internal or External Loyalty Programs

  •  Data Analytic Software

  •  Fraud Prevention Software

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eCommerce merchants should contact their vendors for any of the above services that apply to ensure that they are 2-Series compliant, or if they will require an update or plugin to become compliant.

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Brick-and-mortar businesses should ensure that their POS software or payment terminals are setup to accept the 2-Series MasterCards.  Some payment terminals may require a software update to process 2-Series cards, while other, older, payment terminals may need to be outright replaced with a newer payment terminal equipped to process the 2-Series cards.  

Additional questions about 2-Series MasterCard Acceptance? Please contact us or request a free analysis of your processing statement.  

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