Of all the numbers on your credit card, the three- or four-digit security code is the one to guard, because stores aren’t allowed to keep it after a sale. Enter it only at a checkout you started yourself, and never send it by email or text.
That matters because online, you type the printed numbers instead of handing over the card, and so can anyone who steals them. The chip and the contactless symbol, four curved lines, only come into play when you pay in person.
Start with the long card number. Its first digit names the payment network, with 4 for Visa, 5 or 2 for Mastercard, 3 for American Express, and 6 for Discover. That network’s logo on the card shows where you can use it. The first six to eight digits identify the bank that issued the card, the digits after that identify your account, and the last digit lets a checkout form catch a mistyped number. The expiration date is the last month the card works, through that month’s final day.
The security code, often called the CVV, is three digits on the back of most cards and four on the front of an American Express card. Online stores ask for it to help confirm you’re holding the card, and the card industry’s security rules bar them from saving it once a purchase is approved. So a card number stolen from a store’s records shouldn’t come with the code, and a thief without the code can’t finish a purchase at a checkout that requires it.
These habits keep the code, and the rest of your card details, away from thieves:
- Enter card details only on a checkout page you reached by typing the store’s address or opening its app.
- Never send your card number, security code, or a photo of the card by email or text, even to someone you trust.
- Online, pay with a virtual card number or your phone’s digital wallet when you can, since either can stand in for your real card number at checkout.
If you think someone else has your code, call your card issuer right away for a replacement card, which comes with a new code.
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