Category Archives: AVS Address Verification Service
What is the Address Verification Service (AVS) for Merchant Accounts
Address Verification Reduces Risk
Most banks and merchant account providers require merchants to use the address verification service (AVS) to prevent a transaction downgrade to non-qualified. This has to do with risk. AVS was created to help detect suspicious and fraudulent activity on bank cards. Here are some key points of AVS
- AVS matches the billing information given at the point of sale (POS) to the billing information on file with the card issuing bank.
- AVS matches numerical values only. The house numbers, or zip code numbers. It cannot match street names.
- Once the transaction is submitted an AVS code will be sent from the processing network to the payment gateway.
- A declined AVS transaction will reduce the available credit on the payment card even though the transaction was declined. This can pose a problem if the card is near the limit and the merchant attempts the transaction a second time. The card may be declined because of the pre-authorization of funds on the AVS decline. Call the issuing bank to resolve this issue.
- An approval from the issuing bank with a decline from AVS will reduce the cards available balance. Customers may mistake this as an actual charge. The hold usually falls off within 3-7 days.
Here is a look at Authorize.net AVS codes
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General AVS Responses |
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| B | Address information was not submitted in the transaction information, so AVS check could not be performed |
| E | The AVS data provided is invalid, or AVS is not allowed for the card type submitted |
| R | AVS was unavailable at the time the transaction was processed. Retry transaction |
| G | The credit card issuing bank is of non-U.S. origin and does not support AVS |
| U | Address information is not available for the customer’s credit card |
| S | The U.S. card issuing bank does not support AVS |
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Address and ZIP Code Responses |
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| N | Neither the street address nor the 5-digit ZIP code matches the address and ZIP code on file for the card |
| A | The street address matches, but the 5-digit ZIP code does not |
| Z | The first 5 digits of the ZIP code matches, but the street address does not match |
| W | The 9-digit ZIP code matches, but the street address does not match |
| Y | The street address and the first 5 digits of the ZIP code match perfectly
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- For more information on merchant accounts and AVS visit
