How does Google Wallet know what my credit card looks like? [closed]

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I logged into Google Wallet and when I look at my payment methods, Google has an image of what my card looks like. Is there a database that accessible for online merchants to get this image or are they requesting them from banks themselves?

It's a nice touch for UI that I think would be cool to integrate into projects.

Answer 1

Oh, I doubt its an actual image of your card (+1 for @paxdiablo's comment) rather, likely an (licensed) image of standard bank cards. The number in all credit cards correspond to the type of card (MC, VISA, AMEX, etc) and includes what's known as a BIN number (Bank Identification Number).

If you have both, and I'll assume some permission to use that bank's logo/image of their cards, voila :)