4.o AVS/CV2 Checking

4.1 Background

AVS and CV2 fraud checking is available on all card transactions processed by the Gateway where supported by the Acquirer. 

These fraud prevention checks are performed by the Acquirer while authorising the transaction. You can choose how to act on the outcome of the check (or even to ignore them altogether). 

4.1.1 AVS Checking 

The Address Verification System (AVS) uses the address details that are provided by the Cardholder to verify that the address is registered to the card being used. The address and postcode are checked separately. 

4.1.2 CV2 Checking 

CV2, CVV, or Card Verification Value is a 3-digit or 4-digit security code. The check verifies that the code is the correct one for the card used. 

For most cards, the CVV is a 3-digit number to the right of the signature strip. For American Express cards, this is a 4-digit number printed, not embossed, on the front right of the card. 

The AVS/CV2 checking preferences can be configured per Merchant Account within the Merchant Management System (MMS). These preferences can be overridden per transaction by sending one of the preference fields documented in section 4.3 that hold a comma separated list of the check responses that should be allowed in order to continue to completion. Responses not in the list will result in the transaction being declined with a responseCode of 5 (AVS/CV2 DECLINED).

AVS/CV2 fraud checking is not available with all Acquirers and must be enabled on your Merchant Account before it can be used. Please contact support to find out whether your Acquirer supports it and if it can be enabled on your Merchant Account.

4.2 Benefits and Limitations

4.2.1 Benefits 

• Can be enabled with just a few extra integration fields. 

• The results are available immediately and returned as part of the transaction. 

• The checks can be managed independently, allowing you the utmost control over how the results are used. 

• The checks can be configured to decline a transaction automatically, where required. 

• There are no extra costs for using AVS/CV2 checking with your transactions. 

• Fully configurable within the Merchant Management System (MMS). 

4.2.2 Limitations 

• The AVS checks are mainly supported by Visa, MasterCard and American Express in the USA, Canada and United Kingdom. Cardholders with a bank that does not support the checks might receive declines due to the lack of data. 

• Because AVS only verifies the numeric portion of the address and postcode, certain anomalies such as apartment numbers and house names can cause false declines. 

• The checks are meant for consumer cards. Company cards are not fully supported due to the Acquirers’ not having access to this information.

4.3 Request Fields

These fields should be sent in addition to basic request fields in section 2.1.

1 Mandatory if AVS address checking is required.
2 Mandatory if AVS postcode checking is required.
3 Mandatory if CV2 checking is required.
4 Overrides any Merchant Account setting configured via the Merchant Management System (MMS).

4.4 Response Fields

These fields will be returned in addition to the AVS/CV2 request fields in section 4.3 and the basic response fields in section 2.2.