16 Keyboard Manual
Track 3
The recording density of Track 3 is defined as 210 bits per inch.
The character configuration (encoding) is 4 bits plus 1 parity (odd)
bit, which yields 16 unique characters (10 numeric digits plus 6
symbolic characters :;<=>?).
The maximum information content, defined by the Thrift Industry
(THRIFT-TTS), is 107 characters arranged in the format below.
; FC PAN = CC CuC CE AA AR CB CL RC PINCP IC PANSR FSANSR
SSANSR DATE CSN CScN FSAN = SSAN = RM CCD DD ? LRC
SSANSR SSAN Service Restriction - 2 digits -
see SSAN below
Expiration Date - 4 digits - YYMM formatDATE
CSN Card Sequence Number - 1 digit
CScN Card Security Number - 9 digits
Separator - 1 character - always “=” for Track 3=
FSAN
First Subsidiary Account Number - variable number of digits
SSAN
Second Subsidiary Account Number - variable number of digits
Separator - 1 character - always “=” for Track 3=
RM Relay Marker - 1 digit
CCD Crypto Check - 1 digit
Discretionary Data - additional characters to fill out
maximum record length
DD
End Sentinel - 1 character - always “?” for all tracks?
Longitudinal Redundency Check - 1 check characterLRC
FSAN Service Restriction - 2 digits - see FSAN below
FSANSR
Cycle Length - 2 digitsCL
RC Retry Count - 1 digit - number of remaining PIN tries
PINCP PIN Control Parameters - 6 digits
IC Interchange Control - 1 digit
PANSR
PAN Service Restriction - 2 digits - describes the account
CB Cycle Begin (Validity Date) - 4 digits - YYMM format
AR Amount Remaining This Cycle - 4 digits
AA Amount Authorized Per Cycle - 4 digits
CE Currency Exponent - 1 digit
CuC Currency Code - 3 digits
Country Code - 3 digitsCC
Separator - 1 character - always “=” for Track 3=
Primary Account Number - up to 19 digitsPAN
Format Code -
2 alphabetical characters
FC
Start Sentinel - 1 character - always “;” for Track 3;