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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
|
General AVS Responses |
|
| 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 |
|
Address and ZIP Code Responses |
|
| 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
|
- For more information on merchant accounts and AVS visit
Advantages and Pricing of Authorize.Net
Authorize.Net Easy Secure Online Payment Gateway
According to the Global Payments Website, “only14% of all sales on the Internet come from alternative payment methods such as PayPal and Google Checkout. Don’t miss out on 86% of your sales.”
Authorize.net is PaymentMaxs’ preferred gateway connecting merchants websites with a secure payment processing network. A payment gateway is like a credit card terminal you would see in a brick and mortar retail location, and has all of the same fraud prevention tools such as: Address Verification System (AVS) and Card Code Verification (CCV). Authorize.Net also offers clients an additional security feature called Fruad Detection Suite (FDS) to further reduce the risk of fraud.
Here is a look at Authorize.Net pricing with Next Day Funding.
|
Service |
What it Costs |
| Gateway Setup Free with new approved merchant account. |
FREE |
| Monthly Gateway Fee | $20 |
| Per Transaction | $.10 |
| Per Batch | $.25 |
| Virtual Terminal Easy processing for telephone, fax and mail orders. |
FREE |
| Customer Support Call 24/7 for any help you need. We’re always here for you when you need us. |
FREE |
| Fraud Prevention Tools Address Verification (AVS) and Card Code Verification (CCV). |
FREE |
| Payment Options eCommerce payments on your website or payments through Authorize.net’s trusted site. |
FREE |
| Optional Upgrades (per month) | |
| Advanced Fraud Detection Suite Protects you from fraud by identifying suspicious online orders. |
$10 |
| Automated Recurring Billing Subscription payments made easy and automatic! |
$10 |
| Customer Information Manager Keep sensitive customer data safe and easy to manage. |
$20 |
| eCheck.Net Electronic checks give your online customers another easy way to pay. *Depends on volume; pricing is set by Authorize.Net. |
TBD* |
For more information on Authorize.Net payment gateway, pricing, next day funding, or a new merchant account visit www.paymentmax.com.
