Magnetic stripe examples: standard cards

by

Luis Padilla Visdómine

This page shows the contents (and its possible meaning) of some standard magnetic stripe cards, see track formats for additional details. Part of the information has been changed for obvious reasons. By now you can find:

Note:

*** means digits which change randomly from card to card.

XXX means digits which appear repeatedly in the same card.

Caja de Madrid ATM card (VISA logo):
- Embossing:
```
Card holder : LUIS PADILLA VISDOMINE
Card number*: 1234 5678 9012 3445
Expiration  : 01/99
```
  *The card number (PAN) uses, as most of the credit and debit cards, the Luhn Check Digit Algorithm. Valid numbers must comply with the following rule. If the card number has an even number of digits, then the adding up of the even numbered digits plus the odd numbered digits doubled (minus 9 if the doubled digit is greater than 9) has to be multiple of 10. If the card number has an odd number of digits, then the same applies but doubling even (instead of odd) numbered digits. Using the example above:
  
  2 x 1 + 2 + 2 x 3 + 4 + 2 x 5 - 9 + 6 + 2 x 7 - 9 + 8 + 2 x 9 - 9 + 0 + 2 x 1 + 2 + 2 x 3 + 4 + 2 x 4 + 5 = 70 and therefore the number in the example is a valid number for a credit or debit card.
  Actually is the other way round, the last digit of the card number is calculated so that the whole number complies with Luhn Check, therefore the last digit is called check digit.
  Track 1:
```
%B1234567890123445^PADILLA VISDOMINE/LUIS    ^99011200000000000000**XXX******?*
^^^               ^^                         ^^   ^       ^         ^        ^^
|||_ Card number  ||_ Card holder            ||   |       |         |_ CVV** ||_ LRC
||_ Format code   |_ Field separator         ||   |       |                  |_ End sentinel
|_ Start sentinel           Field separator _||   |       |_ Discretionary data
                                  Expiration _|   |_ Service code
```
  Track 2:
```
;1234567890123445=99011200XXXX00000000?*
^^               ^^   ^   ^           ^^
||_ Card number  ||   |   |_ Encrypted||_ LRC
|_ Start sentinel||   |      PIN***   |_ End sentinel
                 ||   |_ Service code
Field separator _||_ Expiration
```
  Track 3:
```
;011234567890123445=724724100000000000030300XXXX040400099010=************************==1=0000000000000000?*
^^ ^               ^^  ^  ^            ^ ^  ^   ^^ ^   ^    ^^                       ^^^^^               ^^
|| |               ||  |  |_ Currency  | |  |   || |   |    ||_ First subsidiary     |||||_ Additional   ||
|| |               ||  |     exponent  | |  |   || |   |    |   account number (FSAN)||||   data         ||
|| |_ Card number  ||  |_ Currency     | |  |   || |   |    |_ Field separator       ||||_ Field         ||_ LRC
||_ Format code    ||     (Peseta)     | |  |   || |   |_ Expiration                 |||   separator     |_ End sentinel
|_ Start sentinel  ||_ Country (Spain) | |  |   || |_ FSAN service restriction       |||_ Relay marker
                   |_ Field separator  | |  |   ||_ PAN service restriction          ||_ Field separator
                         Cycle length _| |  |   |_ Interchange control               |_ Field separator
                            Retry count _|  |_ Encrypted PIN***
```
  **The CVV (Card Verification Value) is a cryptographic signature of the card number, the expiration date and the service code to verify the integrity of these data in the track. It is calculated with an algorithm similar to that of PIN encryption.
  
  ***The PIN (Personal Identification Number) is basically encrypted as follows. The card number is taken as an hexadecimal number and is encrypted with the DES algorithm using a secret key, which is called the "PIN key". The first four digits are decimalized (i.e., A = 0, B = 1, ...) and are called the "natural PIN". An offset is added (without carry) to the natural PIN in order to obtain the customer PIN. The customer PIN may be changed but the natural PIN cannot. The offset is what is written in track 3 and I called the "encrypted PIN". Here you have an example:
  
  Card number: 1234567890123445hex input for DES.
  
  PIN key: 0123456789ABCDEFhex key for DES.
  
  Encrypted card number: 9A466AD30DFE0381hex output from DES.
  
  Natural PIN: 9046.
  
  Offset: 2298 (this number is written on track 3).
  
  Customer PIN: 1234.
  
  See also the original VISA scheme and a discussion on other systems. See the two much more detailed and complete documents linked in my main page for magnetic stripe cards.

Caja Madrid VISA or VISA Electron card:

Embossing or printing:

Card holder: LUIS PADILLA VISDOMINE
Card number: 1234 5678 9012 3445
Expiration : 01/99

Track 1:

%B1234567890123445^PADILLA VISDOMINE/LUIS    ^99011X100000*000000000XXX000000?*
^^^               ^^                         ^^   ^       ^         ^        ^^
|||_ Card number  ||_ Card holder            ||   |       |         |_ CVV   ||_ LRC
||_ Format code   |_ Field separator         ||   |       |                  |_ End sentinel
|_ Start sentinel           Field separator _||   |       |_ Discretionary data
                                  Expiration _|   |_ Service code: 101 for VISA and 121 for VISA Electron

Track 2:

;1234567890123445=99011X10XXXXXXX00000?*
^^               ^^   ^   ^   ^       ^^
||_ Card number  ||   |   |   |_ CVV  ||_ LRC
|_ Start sentinel||   |   |           |_ End sentinel
Field separator _||   |   |_ Encrypted PIN (except if duplicate card)
      Expiration _|   |_ Service code: 101 for VISA and 121 for VISA Electron

Track 3:

;011234567890123445=724724000000000****00300XXXX020200099010=********************==1=100000000000000000**?*
^^ ^               ^^  ^           ^     ^  ^   ^^ ^   ^    ^^                   ^^^^^                   ^^
|| |               ||  |_ Currency |     |  |   || |   |    ||_ FSAN             |||||                   ||
|| |_ Card number  ||     (Peseta) |     |  |   || |   |    |_ Field separator   |||||_ Additional data  ||_ LRC
||_ Format code    ||_ Country     |     |  |   || |   |_ Expiration             ||||_ Field separator   |_ End sentinel
|_ Start sentinel  |   (Spain)     |     |  |   || |_ FSAN service restriction   |||_ Relay marker
                   |_ Field        |     |  |   ||_ PAN service restriction      ||_ Field separator
                      separator    |     |  |   |_ Interchange control           |_ Field separator
                    Validity date _|     |  |_ Encrypted PIN (except if duplicate card)
              (except if duplicate card) |_ Retry count

Uno-e VISA Electron card:

Printing:

Card holder: LUIS PADILLA VISDOMINE
Card number: 1234 5678 9012 3445
Expiration : 01/99

Track 1:

%B1234567890123445^PADILLA VISDOMINE/LUIS    ^99011211XXXX*000000**0XXX0**000?*
^^^               ^^                         ^^   ^  ^^   ^         ^        ^^
|||_ Card number  ||_ Card holder            ||   |  ||   |_ Discr. |_ CVV   ||_ LRC
||_ Format code   |_ Field separator         ||   |  ||      data            |_ End sentinel
|_ Start sentinel           Field separator _||   |  ||_ PVV*
                                  Expiration _|   |  |_ PVV key indicator
                                                  |_ Service code

Track 2:

;1234567890123445=99011211XXXXXXX00***?*
^^               ^^   ^  ^^   ^       ^^
||_ Card number  ||   |  ||   |_ CVV  ||_ LRC
|_ Start sentinel||   |  ||_ PVV*     |_ End sentinel
Field separator _||   |  |_ PVV key indicator
      Expiration _|   |_ Service code

Track 3:

;011234567890123445=000978100000000****8330*0000920000099010=************************==1=0000000*00000000?*
^^ ^               ^   ^  ^        ^   ^ ^      ^^     ^    ^^                       ^^^^^               ^^
|| |               |   |  |_ Curr. |   | |_Retry||     |    ||_ FSAN                 |||||_ Additional   ||_ LRC
|| |_ Card number  | Curr.   expon.|   |   count||     |    |_ Field separator       ||||   data         |_ End sentinel
||_ Format code    | (Euro)        |   |        ||     |_ Expiration                 ||||_ Field separator
|_ Start sentinel  |_ Field        |   |_ Cycle ||_ PAN service restriction          |||_ Relay marker
                      separator    |      length|_ Interchange control               ||_ Field separator
                    Validity date _|                                                 |_ Field separator

*The PVV (PIN Verification Value) is another way of PIN encryption. It is calculated with an algorithm similar to that described above.

Caja Bilbao Vizcaya ATM card (MasterCard logo):

Embossing:

Card holder: LUIS PADILLA VISDOMINE
Card number: 1234 5678 9012 3445
Expiration : 01/99

Track 1:

%B1234567890123445^PADILLA VISDOMINE/LUIS    ^990110100000000XXX****XXX******?*
^^^               ^^                         ^^   ^       ^  ^      ^        ^^
|||_ Card number  ||_ Card holder            ||   |       |  |      |_ CVV   ||_ LRC
||_ Format code   |_ Field separator         ||   |       |  |_ Number       |_ End sentinel
|_ Start sentinel           Field separator _||   |       |_ Discretionary data
                                  Expiration _|   |_ Service code

Track 2:

;1234567890123445=990110100000XXXXXX00?*
^^               ^^   ^       ^  ^    ^^
||_ Card number  ||   |  CVV _|  |    ||_ LRC
|_ Start sentinel||   |  Number _|    |_ End sentinel
                 ||   |_ Service code
Field separator _||_ Expiration

Track 3:

;011234567890123445=7247241000000000000001000000040400099010=************************==0=0002000000******?*
^^ ^               ^^  ^  ^              ^      ^^ ^   ^    ^^                       ^^^^^               ^^
|| |_ Card number  ||  |  |_ Currency    |      || |   |    ||_ First subsidiary     |||||_ Additional   ||
||_ Format code    ||  |     exponent    |      || |   |    |   account number (FSAN)||||   data         ||
|_ Start sentinel  ||  |_ Currency       |      || |   |    |_ Field separator       ||||_ Field         ||_ LRC
  Field separator _||     (Peseta)       |      || |   |_ Expiration                 |||   separator     |_ End sentinel
                    |_ Country (Spain)   |      || |_ FSAN service restriction       |||_ Relay marker
                            Retry count _|      ||_ PAN service restriction          ||_ Field separator
                                                |_ Interchange control               |_ Field separator

Sanitas (private sanitary coverage) card:

Embossing:

Card holder: LUIS PADILLA VISDOMINE
Card number: 999999 8888 777 666 5
Validity   : 01/98 - 02/99

Track 1:

%BXXXXXX99999900000888877=LUIS PADILLA VISDOMINE        =666599029801?*
^^^     ^          ^     ^^                             ^^   ^       ^^
|||     |          |     ||_ Card holder                ||   |       ||_ LRC
|||     |          |     |_ Field separator             ||   |       |_ End sentinel
|||     |          |_ Card number(2)                    ||   |_ Validity
|||     |_ Card number(1)              Field separator _||_ Card number(3)
|||_ Number
||_ Format code
|_ Start sentinel

Track 2:

;XXXXXX999999000008888777=666990259801?*
^^     ^          ^      ^^  ^   ^^   ^^
||     |          |      ||  |   ||   ||_ LRC
||     |          |      ||  |   ||   |_ End sentinel
||     |          |      ||  |   ||_ Validity(2)
||     |          |      ||  |   |_ Card number(4)
||     |          |      ||  |_ Validity(1)
||     |          |      ||_ Card number(3)
||     |          |      |_ Field separator
||     |          |_ Card number(2)
||     |_ Card number(1)
||_ Number
|_ Start sentinel

Track 3:

Empty (all zeros)

Social security card:

Embossing:

Card holder: LUIS PADILLA VISDOMINE
Card number: 999999 PDVS123456789012
Expiration : 03/99

Track 1:

%B999999^PDVS123456789012^PADILLA VISDOMINE LUIS        ^0X0000399           ?*
^^^     ^^^^^^           ^^                             ^ ^   ^              ^^
|||     ||||||_ Card     ||_ Card holder                | |   |_ Expiration  ||_ LRC
|||     |||||   number(2)|_ Field separator (formerly =)| |                  |_ End sentinel
|||     |||||_ 3rd letter from 2nd surname              | |_ = 1 -> Non pensioner
|||     ||||_ 1st letter from 2nd surname               |    = 2 -> Pensioner
|||     |||_ 3rd letter from 1st surname                |_ Field separator (formerly =)
|||     ||_ 1st letter from 1st surname
|||     |_ Field separator (formerly =)
|||_ Card number(1)
||_ Format code
|_ Start sentinel

Track 2:

;999999554749123456789012=00X990300000?*
^^     ^  ^  ^           ^  ^^        ^^
||     |  |  |_ Card     |  ||        ||_ LRC
||     |  |     number(2)|  ||        |_ End sentinel
||     |  |              |  ||_ Expiration
||     |  |              |  |_ See above
||     |  |              |_ Field separator
||     |  |_ = 30 x (#V - 30) + #S - 22, where #X means decimal value of character X in the ALPHA format (#A = 33, #B = 34, ...)
||     |_ = 30 x (#P - 30) + #D - 22, where P, D, V and S come from the card number (see above)
||_ Card number(1)
|_ Start sentinel

Track 3:

Empty (all zeros) or not present

Vitalicio-Salud (private sanitary coverage) card:

Embossing:

Card holder: LUIS PADILLA VISDOMINE
Card number: 0123456789
Validity   : 04/99 - 12/99

Track 1:

%0123456789LUIS PADILLA VISDOMINE    ?*
^^         ^                         ^^
||         |_ Card holder            ||_ LRC
||_ Card number                      |_ End sentinel
|_ Start sentinel

Track 2:

;0123456789?*
^^         ^^
||_ Card   ||_ LRC
|   number |_ End sentinel
|_ Start sentinel

Track 3:

Empty (all zeros)

Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias pass ticket:

Printing:

Date: 16/12/00 20:00
Number: 010100381781
Track 1:

Not present

Track 2:

;012001120100381781?*
^ ^       ^        ^^
| |_ Date?|        ||_ LRC
|         |        |_ End sentinel
|         |_ Partial number
|_ Start sentinel

Track 3:

Not present

Graphispag93 exhibitor ID card:
- Printing:
  
  Card holder: RUEDA, J
- Track 1:
```
%RUEDA, J?*
^^       ^^
||       ||_ LRC
||       |_ End sentinel
||_ Card holder
|_ Start sentinel
```
- Track 2:
  
  Not present
- Track 3:
  
  Not present

Carrefour gas station discount ticket:

Printing:

None
Track 1:

Not present

Track 2:

;9999989999999999=01015990000000000000?*
^                ^                    ^^
|_ Start sentinel|_ Field separator   ||_ LRC
                                      |_ End sentinel

Track 3:

Not present

Madrid public parking ticket:
- Printing:
  
  Date: 14:31 06-02-98
- Track 1:
  
  Not present
- Track 2:
```
;11431060298?*
^ ^         ^^
| |_ Date   ||_ LRC
|_ Start    |_ End sentinel
   sentinel
```
- Track 3:
  
  Not present

Parque Ferial Juan Carlos I parking ticket:

Printing:

Date: 27/02/2003 13:32:05
String: 01044 9 35397 P01
Track 1:

Not present

Track 2:

;304601=0534177205044000000000000100?*
^      ^  ********^                 ^^
|      |          |_ Digits 3 to 5  ||
|      |             of string      ||
|      |_ Field separator           ||_ LRC
|_ Start sentinel                   |_ End sentinel

Track 3:

Not present

Val Thorens parking card:

Printing:

Number  : 11069
Parking : P0
Validity: 02/01/96 - 06/01/96

Track 1:

Not present

Track 2:

;>4155594>4713000110=11106909912310000?*
^                   ^ ^               ^^
|_ Start sentinel   | |_ Number       ||_ LRC
                    |_ Field separator|_ End sentinel

Can you decode the rest of the printed information?

Track 3:

Not present

padilla@gae.ucm.es (29-Mar-2004) My PGP public key.

This link: http://www.gae.ucm.es/~padilla/extrawork/magexam1.html
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