Address Verification Service (AVS), Security Code (CVC/CVV) Verification and American Express Advanced Verification (AAV) Results

Address details are analysed in two parts: Address and Postcode. The numerics are extracted from each component, for example, 12 High Street, Town, TT1 1TT would result in an address value of '12' and a postcode value of '11'. The card issuer compares this with the cardholder records it holds, and returns a separate result for each. The Worldpay payments service merges the results. The combinations that are displayed in the Merchant Interface are displayed in the left-hand column.

AVS results are presented in order of likely risk from ‘A’ representing the lowest risk to ‘J’ as highest.

Data entry errors by shoppers for both are relatively common and the reason for mismatches are often obvious when the transaction is reviewed. For example, the shopper entered the postcode in the Address field before noticing the Postcode field. This means the address will contain erroneous data.

Mismatches of both Address and Postcode where the reason is not obvious should be investigated further especially where the CVV/CVC also mismatches.

Most fraudsters that have obtained card data do not have the real cardholder's address so this is a useful check. Be aware, however, that in cases such as identity theft, the fraudster may have the correct address. Therefore, a 'Matched' result should not be viewed as absolute proof that the genuine cardholder is making the transaction.

Note: For the purpose of checking V.me by Visa and MasterPass digital wallet transactions, the digital wallet service provider will override any address entered by the shopper with the billing address stored in the digital wallet.

The data supplied matched the data held on the card issuer’s system.

CVV/CVC results are presented in order of likely risk from ‘A’ representing the lowest to ‘D’ as highest.

The rate of errors of shoppers entering CVV/CVC is relatively low so a ‘Not Matched’ result is an indicator that the shopper does not have the card available.

Note: For V.me by Visa and MasterPass transactions, no CVV/CVC check is performed unless the shopper has updated their card details during the transaction. Due to this, the CVV/CVC result when cards are used (and not updated) is also "Not Supplied by Shopper".

Not provided by shopper or merchant indicated that CVC not present on card.

Either:

• the card issuer does not support the check;

• is refused by the issuer and no results have been returned to us;

• the service is temporarily unavailable;

• the transaction is high risk and has been stopped by the Risk Management service before proceeding to authorisation.

The data did not match the data held on the card issuer’s system or is invalid.

Not Checked

The request to verify the data has not been completed for any of the following reasons:

• The card issuer does not support the check.

• The service is temporarily unavailable.

• The transaction is high risk and has been stopped by the Risk Management service before proceeding to authorisation.

Matched

The data supplied matched the data held on the card issuer’s system.

Not Matched

The data did not match the data held on the card issuer’s system.

The data supplied matched the data held by American Express.

AAV results are presented in order of likely risk from ‘A’ representing the lowest to ‘D’ as highest.

The data was not provided by the shopper or merchant.

Either:

• No results have been returned to us;

• The service is temporarily unavailable;

• The transaction is high risk and has been stopped by the Risk Management service before proceeding to authorisation.

The data did not match the data held on the American Express system or is invalid.