On 01-Mar-12 17:51, Adam H. Kerman wrote:
Stephen Sprunk wrote:

There is no way for the terminal to know whether the Visa/MC/etc. number
presented is a credit, debit or charge card. A card processor _may_ be
able to deduce it from other information, but only the issuing bank
knows for sure.

I have no idea how you come up with this stuff, but the type of card,
not to mention who issued it, is built into the number range itself.

The first digit or two identifies the network; the next several digits
identify the issuing bank. Nowhere in the number is encoded whether it
is a credit, debit or charge card. Even if some issuing banks choose to
encode that in the remaining digits, there is no guarantee they will all
do so--or in the same way.

S

--
Stephen Sprunk "God does not play dice." --Albert Einstein
CCIE #3723 "God is an inveterate gambler, and He throws the
K5SSS dice at every possible opportunity." --Stephen Hawking