Identifying Visa Flexible Credential Cards Using BIN Data

BIN data is no longer something that would be nice to have—it’s a necessity for any business interested in true payments optimization. With the information BINs provide, you not only know who your customers are and how they prefer to pay, but you can stay on top of changing trends in the payments world. And if you’re reading the Pagos blog, it’s safe to say you know how fast trends can change; new payment methods, regulations, and network capabilities pop up all the time, and the more accessible data you have to derive insights from, the better.

Parrot by Pagos, our direct-to-network BIN database, is an unmatched tool for querying standard and enhanced data fields for BINs issued by over 30 card brands. Even more, as the payments landscape changes and the features associated with particular BINs grow, so too does Parrot. At Pagos, we’re committed to providing merchants with as much BIN data as possible, and that's why we're excited to announce a new enhanced data field in Parrot: Multi Account Access Indicator. This new field indicates whether a card supports Visa Flexible Credential (VFC)—a new feature that allows cardholders to choose among multiple funding sources for a single card at the time of a transaction or according to preset rules. In this post, we'll dig into this new Visa feature, the benefits to customers and merchants, and the value of identifying VFC cards in your BIN data.

What is Visa Flexible Credential?

Visa Flexible Credential is an innovative program that separates payment cards from their underlying funding source. In other words, it makes it possible for a single card number to become an identifier for more than one account. With VFC-issued cards, customers can ostensibly choose at checkout whether to fund a transaction with a debit account, credit line, Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) option, or even rewards points. Alternatively, they can design their own rules guiding the issuer on which funding account to use depending on the transaction type or amount, such as always using credit for transactions over $100 or always funding transactions made at gas stations with a bank account.  

This new functionality not only benefits cardholders, but card issuers, as well. In issuing cards with VFC functionality, issuers can serve customers across a wider range of financial products without issuing a new card. The most common use case we’ve seen so far has been for issuers to offer BNPL experiences at checkout seamlessly.

Currently available in Asia with plans to expand to the U.S. later this year (learn more in Visa’s US-merchant FAQ), Visa Flexible Credential is designed to enhance customer experiences by providing the flexibility to choose the most suitable funding  method for each purchase. This flexibility can help customers avoid declined transactions due to insufficient funds or finally use available rewards points. For more information about VFC, see this post from Visa.

Why Should Merchants Care About Visa Flexible Credential?

For merchants, Visa Flexible Credential isn't just about offering customers more choices—it’s about driving better outcomes at checkout. By allowing cardholders to select a funding source based on their personal insights, VFC has the potential to reduce declines, drive higher checkout conversion rates, increase transaction sizes and revenue, and ultimately enhance customer engagement and lifetime value (LTV). This flexibility also has the potential to open up underutilized funding sources like loyalty points or installment payments, further increasing engagement and satisfaction.

How to Leverage Parrot’s New Multi Account Access Indicator  Field

The Multi Account Access Indicator BIN data field indicates if a Visa card is eligible for Visa Flexible Credential functionality, and informs you if the customer has opted to (A) personally select their funding source for each transaction or (B) let the issuer decide on their behalf based on preset rules. With this information, you can gain deeper insights into your customers' payment behaviors and optimize your offerings accordingly. For example:

• Tailor Your Promotions and Rewards: Knowing when a customer is using a Visa Flexible Credential-enabled card allows you to create targeted promotions, discounts, or rewards.

• Perform an In-depth Cost Analysis on Processing Fees: Different funding sources can carry different processing fees. By segmenting out fee data for any transactions made with VFC cards, you can analyze the impact of this new Visa feature on your overall processing costs and optimize your payment strategy.

• Identify Trends in Customer Preferences: Tracking the volume of transactions made with VFC cards helps you better understand your customers' preferences. This data can inform how you tailor your payment options, improve the checkout experience, and ultimately, increase customer satisfaction.

• Create a Seamless Checkout Experience: Because Visa Flexible Credential supports numerous funding sources, including installment payments and loyalty points, ensuring a smooth checkout process for these cards can enhance the overall customer experience.

Something to keep in mind about the Multi Account Access Indicator field: this BIN data point only tells you if a card can have different funding sources, not what funding source the customer actually uses for any given transaction. It’s up to the acquirer to pass along the funding source a customer selects (i.e. if the card was processed as a credit card, debit card, BNPL, etc.). You can then tie that information back to the transaction; this is important for your own internal payment operations and cost data analysis, and because it will inform how you process potential refunds or chargebacks down the line. Additionally, if you’re considering compliant surcharging, you’ll have to submit a pre-transaction inquiry to the acquirer to identify the funding source and establish the appropriate surcharge. 

This program is still very new for Visa. Issuers, acquirers, and merchants like you will need to do some work to realize its full potential for your shared customers. At a minimum, using the BIN and Parrot’s Multi Account Access Indicator to determine if your customers are using VFC-enabled cards sets you on the right path.

Get Started With Parrot Today

Ready to take your payments optimization strategy to the next level with BIN data? Parrot by Pagos is your secret weapon for deriving crucial insights about who your customers are, how they like to pay, and the costs your business incurs in accepting their payments. The new Multi Account Access Indicator field is just one of the many ways Parrot can give your business an edge. Sign up for a free trial today and see how Parrot can help you reduce costs and enhance the customer experience. Don't miss out—start exploring the full potential of your payments data with Parrot now!