Where is the PAN stored?

Where is the PAN stored?

• A. In the magnetic strip located on the back of a credit card
• B. In the card's microchip
• C. In the account database
• D. On the front of the card

Answer: (A)

The PAN is the number that identifies the cardholder’s account, and on traditional magnetic‑stripe cards it is encoded on the magnetic stripe on the back. When the card is swiped, the reader reads that stripe to obtain the PAN (along with other data). While the chip may hold card data for chip transactions and the issuer’s database stores the PAN for processing, the physical storage on the card itself, for swipe-based use, is the magnetic stripe. The number printed on the front is for display, not storage.

The PAN is the number that identifies the cardholder’s account, and on traditional magnetic‑stripe cards it is encoded on the magnetic stripe on the back. When the card is swiped, the reader reads that stripe to obtain the PAN (along with other data). While the chip may hold card data for chip transactions and the issuer’s database stores the PAN for processing, the physical storage on the card itself, for swipe-based use, is the magnetic stripe. The number printed on the front is for display, not storage.