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AVS and CVV settings

Updated

Table of Contents

  1. Address Verification Settings (AVS)
  2. Card ID Verification (CVV)
  3. When do AVS/CVV rules apply?

 

Address Verification Settings (AVS)

Address Verification Settings are used by Merchants to validate the authenticity of a transaction. The better the ‘match’, the higher the probability that it is the actual cardholder processing the transaction. Passing address information (Street Address and Zip Code) also helps Merchants get better processing rates upstream from the Gateway.

 How does Address Verification Work?

  1.  We process the transaction
  2. The Issuing Bank will send us the AVS status, based on what they have on file for this cardholder. 
  3. The gateway will reject the transaction if these rules are set in the Address Verification section.

 How to use Address Verification section?

Address Verification section can be found in the merchant’s control panel by clicking Options >> click Settings >> under ‘Security Options’ you will see the ‘Address Verification".

The Address Verification section is a list of possible responses that a Merchant can REJECT transactions on. For example, if the Merchant does not wish to allow transactions with non-matching information, or foreign card issuers, they can select rules that the Gateway will use to reject transactions that return with these status messages.

Example: Reject a U.S. Transaction if…Street Address Does Not Match AND…First 5 digits of Zip Code Do NOT Match (N).

When a transaction status returns with ‘N’ as the AVS Status, we will REJECT the transaction. It will be listed as Declined in the Transaction Reports, with a message of AVS REJECTED.

To view a log of changes to these settings, you can select Show History under the Save button.

 

Card ID Verification (CVV)

These settings have the same concept as the AVS rejection rules. We process the transaction, and the BANK verifies the CVV code (3 digit code on the back of the card). They will send us a response if supported.

These settings also have a ‘per processor’ and ‘US/International’ rule availability. When these are set, the Gateway will send a reversal or void to the Processor to reject the transaction.

  • Is NOT Processed or CVV was not Provided (P) means that we didn’t get the CVV at all, or the Issuer didn’t get it from the Processor.
  • Does NOT Match (N) means that we received a value but it does not match what the Bank has on file.
  • Should be on the card, but is not indicated (S) means generally the same thing as (P).
  • The issuer is not certified or has not provided encryption keys (U) means that the Bank Issuer of the card cannot decrypt the CVV value in order to validate it. It may match, it may not, but we have no way of knowing.

 

When do AVS/CVV rules apply?

  • The rules only apply on eCommerce and MOTO transactions, not RETAIL.
  • The processor must support passing back the AVS/CVV variables.
  • AVS / CVV rules apply to Active accounts in Live mode only. The rules will be ignored on a test account or when a live account is in test mode.
  • CVV/AVS restrictions do NOT apply to credits or offline transactions