This page will generate valid credit card numbers for 6 of the largest credit card companies in the world This is provided for informational and amusement purposes only. All numbers generated are valid numbers, in so far as I am aware, but they are generated randomly, and may not actually have been assigned yet. This web site is not capable of linking a randomly generated credit card number with a card holder, nor is it capable of detecting wether a given card number is actually held by anyone.

Credit card numbers have a type of internal error checking code built into them. The algorithm used to check the validity of a credit card number is known as LUHN's algorithm. Additionally each credit card company is permitted to issue numbers of a certain length and with a certain prefix. Visa cards for instance are always either 13 or 16 characters long, and always start on the left hand side with the number "4".

Select a card type from the form below, and press "Generate CC#". A valid card number of that type will be displayed. The supported cards are MasterCard, Visa, American Express (don't leave home without it), Discover, Diner's Club (or Carte Blanche, they're essentially the same), and JCB. JCB is the Japanese Credit Bureau, for those of you who haven't heard of it. It is a popular credit card for travellers as it is accepted in many places outside of the USA.

Please keep in mind that this generates a valid credit card number. There is no way for this generator to know if this number has ever been assigned, or if it is currently active. Further there is no way to derive an expiration date or card holder's name from the credit card number alone. You would have to have access to the credit card company's database for that.

Update April 2010
I originally wrote this sometime in 1998 or 1999. Since then it has become much easier to find online information on the encoding of credit card numbers. Nothing about the card number itself is a secret.

Most cards use Luhn's algorithm to encode the number. This is a public domain algorithm, with many current implementations. As of this writing, Wikipedia has 10 real code implementations, as well as links to dozens of others. Back when I wrote this it was difficult for me to find a good description of the algorithm.

Along with the Luhn's algorithm encoding, which is used mainly to catch transcription errors when typing in a card number, the structure of a credit card number also prodvides some information regarding the issuing entity. Essentially a credit card number is a special type of bank card number. Once again Wikipedia provides information that was not readily available to me 10 to 12 years ago.

The first 6 digits of the number are known as the Issuer Identification Number (IIN). Astute observers will notice that my generated credit card numbers do not always follow the proper, current IINs available. In particular when I wrote this, Diner's Club cards would be printed starting with 30, 36, or 38. Actually it was 300-305, 36 or 38, but I didn't know that the 3rd digit had to be between 0 and 5 if the second digit was 0.

Additionally in 1999 Visa cards could come in a 16 digit or a 13 digit variant. Somewhere along the line Visa re-issued all 13 digit cards to 16 digit cards. My cc generator still operates as originally written, and produces both 13 and 16 digit variants.