POS Entry Mode Lookup
What DE 22 and tag 9F39 mean — chip, contactless, fallback, e-commerce — and why it changes your interchange.
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PAN entry mode — DE 22 digits 1-2, EMV tag 9F39
| Code | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 00 | UnknownwarnEntry mode not available. Usually attracts the worst interchange. |
| 01 | Manual key entrywarnKeyed by the operator. No track or chip data. |
| 02 | Magnetic stripe read — track data may be unreliablewarn |
| 03 | Bar code read |
| 04 | OCR read |
| 05 | Chip read — track data reliableokContact EMV. The best card-present rate. |
| 06 | Manual key entry at a chip-capable terminalwarn |
| 07 | Contactless chip read (EMV mode)okA full EMV transaction over the contactless interface. |
| 09 | Contactless read (mag-stripe mode)warnMSD contactless. Being withdrawn by the schemes. |
| 10 | Credential on fileStored card details for a merchant-initiated transaction. |
| 79 | Chip present but unreadable — fallbackwarnChip read failed and the terminal fell back. Elevated fraud risk and worse interchange. |
| 80 | Chip fallback to magnetic stripewarnSame story as 79. Frequent fallback is a sign of a failing reader or a cloned card. |
| 81 | Electronic commerceCard-not-present online. Pair with the 3DS ECI to see whether liability shifted. |
| 82 | Contactless mag-stripe modewarn |
| 90 | Full magnetic stripe read — track data reliableokA clean swipe of the full track. |
| 91 | Contactless mag-stripe readwarn |
| 95 | Chip read, unreliable CVVwarn |
| 96 | Chip read by the terminal, unable to read the cardwarn |
PIN entry capability — DE 22 digit 3
| Code | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 0 | Unspecified |
| 1 | Terminal can accept a PINok |
| 2 | Terminal cannot accept a PINwarn |
| 8 | PIN pad inoperativewarn |
Transaction type — EMV tag 9C, DE 3 digits 1-2
Included here because the two are almost always read together when reconstructing what a terminal did.
| Code | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 00 | Purchase — goods and servicesok |
| 01 | Cash advance or ATM withdrawal |
| 09 | Purchase with cashback |
| 17 | Cash disbursement |
| 20 | Refund or return |
| 28 | Payment |
| 30 | Balance inquiry |
Why this field costs money
Interchange depends heavily on entry mode. A chip read (05) qualifies for the best
card-present rates because the cryptogram proves the card was there. A keyed transaction
(01) or an unknown mode (00) qualifies for the worst, because nothing
proves anything. Sending the wrong value is not a cosmetic bug — it changes what you pay per
transaction.
Fallback: 79 and 80
These mean the terminal tried the chip, failed, and fell back to the magnetic stripe. Fallback is legitimate — chips do fail — but it is also the classic route for a cloned card, because a fraudster can copy a stripe but not a chip. So schemes monitor fallback rates, issuers decline fallback more readily, and liability often sits with whoever allowed it.
A sustained rise in fallback at one terminal almost always means a dirty or failing reader rather than a fraud wave. Check the hardware before the transactions.
Contactless has two modes
07 is contactless EMV — a full chip transaction over the contactless interface, with a
real cryptogram. 09, 91 and 82 are contactless
mag-stripe mode, which emulates track data and carries a dynamic CVC3 rather than an ARQC.
MSD contactless is being withdrawn by the schemes precisely because it is weaker. If you see it in
current traffic, something is out of date.
81 and credential-on-file
81 is e-commerce. On its own it says nothing about whether the cardholder was
authenticated — pair it with the 3DS ECI to see whether liability
shifted. 10 is credential-on-file, used for merchant-initiated transactions against
stored details, and it carries different rules again: MITs generally need a prior
cardholder-initiated transaction to reference.
The third digit
DE 22 is three digits, and the last one is PIN entry capability, not part of the entry mode.
1 means the terminal can take a PIN, 2 means it cannot. Some processors
send only the first two digits, which is why you will see DE 22 quoted as both 2 and 3 characters
depending on whose documentation you are reading.
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