MasterCard Visa Address Verification Service AVS

Review the US MasterCard and Visa Address Verification Service overview. Then, call us at 800-503-1972 to discuss your business requirements!

You, the credit card merchant, can compare the cardholder's USA billing address at the issuing bank prior to completing a transaction where the magnetic stripe cannot be read. This verification process is required if you are a mail, telephone or internet based merchant.

When requesting the normal credit approval, or authorization, you submit the billing address information provided by the cardholder. When the computer systems contact the issuer requesting credit approval, the address information is compared to that on file at the issuer. The issuer sends a response code back with the credit authorization response.

You make the business decision on how to proceed with the various responses. However, you should always remember that when a customer claims they didn't place that mail, telephone or internet order with you, your AVS "Exact Match" will help you rebut that claim. And, also remember that many processors will not to process a sales transaction with a "N" response code. Proceed with caution!

Code	Definition	Street Match	Zip Match	Explanation
Y,D,M	EXACT MATCH	Yes	Yes 5 digit	With an authorization approval and "exact match," you will want to proceed with the sale.
X	EXACT MATCH	Yes	Yes 9 digit	With an authorization approval and "exact match," you will want to proceed with the sale.
A,B	PARTIAL MATCH	Yes	No	You will want to follow up before fulfilling the order. The card issuer may have incorrect information or the data may have been entered incorrectly.
W	PARTIAL MATCH	No	Yes 9 digit	You will want to follow up before fulfilling the order. The card issuer may have incorrect information or the data may have been entered incorrectly.
Z,P,L	PARTIAL MATCH	No	Yes 5 digit	You will want to follow up before fulfilling the order. The card issuer may have incorrect information or the data may have been entered incorrectly.
N,C	NO MATCH	No	No	This response requires further investigation before shipping order. The cardholder could have moved and not notified the issuer, the merchant may not have asked for the shipping and billing address, or the person may be attempting to complete a fraudulent sale.
U	UNAVAILABLE	--	--	Either the card issuer does not participate in this program or the information for this account is not available. You have no way to verify the address. Investigate further, proceed or cancel the sale.
G,I	Non US ISSUER	--	--	The non-US Issuer does not participate in AVS system
R	RETRY	--	--	The card issuer's system is not working. Try the verification request later

MasterCard Visa Address Verification Service AVS

Copyright © 2009 Commercial Funding Network, Inc.

P.O. Box 9584, Niskayuna, New York 12309-0584

Telephone: 518-346-2115 Fax: 212-658-9003

Revised: November 21, 2009