Address Verification Service (AVS)

What Is the Address Verification Service (AVS)?

The Address Verification Service (AVS) is a device given with credit card processors and giving banks to merchants to recognize suspicious credit card transactions and forestall credit card fraud. The AVS checks the billing address put together by the card client with the cardholder's billing address on record at the responsible bank. This is finished as part of the merchant's request for authorization of the credit card transaction. The credit card processor sends a response code back to the merchant demonstrating the degree of address matching, in this manner validating ownership of a credit or debit card in a non-eye to eye transaction. This cycle helps the merchant in deciding if a card transaction ought to be accepted or dismissed.

AVS is one of the most common apparatuses utilized by merchants to forestall credit card fraud. Be that as it may, it's anything but an idiot proof system, since the billing address given by a bona fide customer may not necessarily in every case match the address on record at the card issuer. Explanations behind such a mismatch would be a recent move by the cardholder or an address of record that was wrong in the first place. In such cases, the merchant runs the risk of dismissing a completely genuine transaction. AVS is an important part of the credit card authentication process and applies to cardholder addresses from the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom.

Understanding the Address Verification Service (AVS)

The Address Verification Service (AVS) is a fraud prevention system that, when utilized really, can assist with limiting fraud and charge-backs. AVS attempts to confirm that the billing address entered by the customer is equivalent to the one associated with the cardholder's credit card account. AVS is widely utilized by the major credit card companies to stop card-not-present (CNP) fraud.

During the checkout cycle, a customer enters their address, which is then compared to the address on file with the responsible bank. When the addresses are compared, the responsible bank returns an AVS code to the merchant. Merchants can utilize this AVS code as a manual for decide how to continue with the transaction.

AVS response codes are single-letter codes that are returned to the merchant during the authorization cycle through their processing platform. These codes assist with deciding the next action, which could be transaction endorsement, exception, or decline. Normally, AVS authentication is utilized as part of a diverse fraud protection system to guarantee that legitimate transactions are approved, and those considered suspicious are declined.

Illustration of Address Verification Service (AVS)

Envision a customer is shopping online at Amazon.com. At the point when the customer enters their billing address during checkout, the accompanying occurs:

1. Amazon's payment gateway sends this address data to the customer's credit card brand (e.g., Visa, MasterCard, Discover, or American Express).
2. The credit card brand then sends this data to the responsible bank. The issuer compares the address with the address stored on file.
3. The issuer then sends an authorization status and associated AVS response code to Amazon's payment gateway.

In the event that the address given by the customer doesn't match the address the issuer has on file for that customer, the AVS code will demonstrate the mismatch between the two addresses and the transaction might be declined. Should the two addresses match, the AVS response code will show this and the transaction will be authorized. The whole AVS process generally just requires a couple of moments and is invisible to customers.

Special Considerations

It's important to comprehend that AVS is certainly not a guaranteed fraud prevention solution. Also, the system could on rare events at any point produce false declines or partial declines. A partial decline might require the merchant to then utilize extra validation methods before finishing the transaction.

A payment gateway or other payment solution ought to involve AVS related to other fraud detection components. Instances of these extra measures incorporate CVV validation codes, IP address verification, 3D Secure, biometric analysis, and gadget authentication.

Features

• AVS response codes are returned to the merchant during the authorization cycle and assist the merchant with deciding the next action, which could be transaction endorsement, exception, or decline.
• AVS confirms that the billing address entered by the customer is equivalent to the one associated with the cardholder's credit card account.
• The Address Verification Service (AVS) is a device that empowers merchants to recognize suspicious credit card transactions and forestall credit card fraud.
• Payment gateways ought to involve AVS related to other fraud detection methods, for example, CVV validation codes, IP address verification, biometric analysis, and gadget authentication.