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Character Encoding Converter
Convert between ASCII, EBCDIC (IBM Code Page 037), and hex. Payment mainframes and legacy HSMs encode data in EBCDIC — digits become 0xF0–0xF9 instead of 0x30–0x39.
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About EBCDIC (CP037)
EBCDIC (Extended Binary Coded Decimal Interchange Code) is an 8-bit character encoding developed by IBM for mainframes and mid-range systems. It is completely different from ASCII — the same byte value means a different character in each encoding.
- Digits: In EBCDIC, digits 0–9 map to bytes
0xF0–0xF9(not ASCII0x30–0x39). This is a common source of bugs when porting legacy payment code. - Letters: Uppercase A–I are
0xC1–0xC9; J–R are0xD1–0xD9; S–Z are0xE2–0xE9. Lowercase follows similar discontiguous ranges. - Gaps: The EBCDIC alphabet has gaps — bytes between letters do not map to printable characters, unlike ASCII's contiguous layout.
- Payment usage: ISO 8583 mainframe implementations, HSM command/response buffers, legacy clearing files, and SWIFT FIN messages on IBM platforms all commonly use EBCDIC.
- Code page 037: The standard US EBCDIC variant used for North American payment processing.