Dear Readers,

In this blog we are going to learn about Card Action Analysis is a cutting-edge approach to understanding consumer behavior and market trends through the analysis of credit and debit card transactions. By dissecting spending patterns, purchase histories, and transaction frequencies, Card Action Analysis empowers businesses and researchers alike with invaluable insights into customer preferences, economic shifts, and emerging opportunities, enabling informed decision-making in an ever-evolving market landscape.

When the card gets the Generate AC command it will perform an own risk management and make a final decision whether the transaction process shall be complete offline, online or be rejected.

The decision will be send to the terminal in the response message of the Generate AC command.

Data Formats

There are two different formats for the data field returned in the response message.

Format 1, Tag ’80’

The data object is a primitive data object. The value field consists of a concatenation of data objects without tag and length bytes.
The data objects are:

  • Cryptogram Information Data (CID)
  • Application Transaction Counter (ATC)
  • Application Cryptogram (AC)
  • Issuer Application Data (IAD) (optional data object)

Format 2, Tag ’77’

The data object is a constructed data object. The value field contains TLV coded data objects. Mandatory data objects are:

  • Tag: ‘9F27’ – Cryptogram Information Data (CID)
  • Tag: ‘9F36’ – Application Transaction Counter (ATC)
  • Tag: ‘9F26’ – Application Cryptogram (AC)

Coding of Cryptogram Information Data

The CID reveal what kind of Application Cryptogramm is returned. It can optionally contain an advice message if the transaction will rejected.

b8b7b6b5b4b3b2b1Meaning
00AAC
01TC
10ARQC
11AAR
xxPayment System-specific cryptogram
0No advice required
1Advice required
xxxReason/advice/referral code
000No information given
001Service not allowed
010PIN Try Limit exceeded
011Issuer authentication failed
1xxOther values RFU

Example

R: SW1/SW2=9000 (Normal processing: No error) Lr=32

0000  77 1E 9F 27 01 80 9F 36 02 02 13 9F 26 08 2D F3  w..’…6….&.-.

0010  83 3C 61 85 5B EA 9F 10 07 06 84 23 00 31 02 08  .<a.[……#.1..

This is a format 2 response message to the Generate AC command.
It contains an ARQC which means that the transaction should be proceed online.