Credit Card Merchant Services with AVS

AVS (Address Verification Service) is the most commonly used fraud prevention service for enabling businesses to do their credit card merchant services in a way that allows them to validate the billing address provided by the customer by comparing it to the one on file with the card issuer.

Credit Card Merchant Services with AVS

Using the AVS is fairly straightforward, after your credit card processing provider has established the service for you. First you ask that the customer provides her billing address and then submit the information, along with the other transaction data, to your processor for an authorization approval. Then the address provided by the cardholder will be routed on to the issuer for validation. The issuer then compares it to the one it has filed for its own customer and will automatically send you back a response.

AVS and transaction authorization requests are processed at the same time and, within only a few seconds, the merchant will receive the two results.

AVS Responses and How to Use Them

AVS Response	What It Means
X - Exact Match	The address and the 9-digit ZIP code are the same. In this case, and if all other fraud results are negative, go forward and process the transaction.
Y - Match	The address and the 5-digit ZIP code match. In this case just follow the above suggestions.
A - Partial Match	The addresses match, but the ZIP code does not. This is a sign of a probable fraud. In this case you may want to do some more investigation prior to reaching a decision.
Z - Partial Match	The ZIP codes match, but the addresses do not. This is a strong sign of a probable fraud, so you need to follow the above suggestions.
N - No Match	Neither the addresses nor the ZIP codes are the same. This is a strong sign of probable fraud. You will need to take additional validation steps.
U - Unavailable	The issuer's system is down and the address can't be validated. In this case you will have to base your decision on other factors.
R - Retry	The issuer's system is temporarily unresponsive. Just try again a bit later.
U - no AVS Support	The issuer does not support AVS, so you will have to decide on whether to process the transaction or not based on other factors.
G - Global	The address is outside the U.S. and the AVS service can't be used. You will have to use other tools to verify the veracity of the transaction, that is if you accept international payments in the first place.

In case a payment is authorized and the AVS Response Code is "U" (no AVS support) and the payment is charged back to you, your acquirer can re-present it for you again. In the U.S. issuers have to support AVS or they will lose their right to chargebacks related to fraud.