Deciding How to Verify Online Transactions
When setting up the E-Commerce account within Certain, you will see the following options available for payment verification.
- Collect Billing Address is a setting to collect a separate billing address for the payor.
- AVS stands for Address Verification Service.
- Match Zip Code is a setting that requires the billing ZIP code entered on the form to match the billing ZIP code for the credit card.
- Note that "123 Main St." and "123 Howard Ave." will return the same result since the street number is the same in both instances.
- Match Street Number is a setting that requires the billing street address entered on the form to match the billing street address for the credit card.
- Require AVS "Yes" Response is a setting where AVS is offered by many credit card-issuing institutions and it enables the merchant to compare the street number and/or ZIP code provided by a cardholder to those on record with the card issuer.
- AVS returns one of three responses: Y = the values match, N = the values do not match, X = the credit card issuer does not support AVS.
- Note: The availability of the above fields is determined by which Online Processor has been selected; not all processors support AVS.
- Require CSC "Yes" Response is a setting to require that the CSC entered on the form match the CSC for the credit card.
- CSC stands for Card Security Code, and is also known by other abbreviations, including CVC2, CVV2, and CID.
- Collect CSC Number adds a field on the form in the Charge my credit card section of the Financial page to collect the Card Security Code (CSC) for the credit card.
When AVS is performed, the bank merely returns advice regarding the match between the billing address provided by the cardholder and that on record with the bank. It does not reject transactions based on these values. Rather, it is up to the merchant to decide whether to accept or reject the card based on the AVS results. If the merchant decides to reject the transaction, then Certain automatically voids the previous transaction so that funds are not withdrawn from the cardholder's account. The credit card issuer, however, does not release the hold on funds from the credit card until the authorization reaches its time-out limit, which can last several days or weeks.
Because event registration fees are usually big-ticket items (hundreds of USD or more), if a cardholder failed AVS validation several times, their credit limit would quickly be consumed and they would be unable to make further purchases on the card until they call their issuing bank and obtain a release. When possible, depending on your Online Payment Processor, Certain uses a method of AVS that overcomes this potentially annoying and time-consuming problem by first performing an authorization request for $0.01, in order to receive the AVS results based on the provided billing address. This authorization is then immediately voided so that the charge does not appear on the cardholder's account. If the AVS results meet the standard set for the processing account, then the full amount of the sale is charged against the credit card. If the transaction is rejected based on the AVS results, then the cardholder receives an error message (error code 112) describing the problem.
The two tables below represent the decision tree that Certain uses to accept or reject credit cards based on AVS results:
Scenario 1: Require AVS Off (not checked)
- Match Zip checked: Accept ZIP=Y or ZIP=X, Reject ZIP=N (Ignore STREET)
- Match Street checked: Accept STREET=Y or STREET=X, Reject STREET=N (Ignore Zip)
- Both Match Zip and Match Street checked:
- STREET=Y, ZIP=Y → Accept
- STREET=N, ZIP=Y → Reject
- STREET=X, ZIP=Y → Accept
- ZIP=N, STREET=Y → Reject
- ZIP=N, STREET=N → Reject
- ZIP=N, STREET=X → Reject
- ZIP=X, STREET=Y → Accept
- ZIP=X, STREET=N → Reject
- ZIP=X, STREET=X → Accept
Scenario 2: Require AVS On (checked)
- Match Zip checked: Accept ZIP=Y, Reject ZIP=N or ZIP=X (Ignore STREET)
- Match Street checked: Accept STREET=Y, Reject STREET=N or STREET=X (Ignore ZIP)
- Both Match Zip and Match Street checked:
- STREET=Y, ZIP=Y → Accept
- STREET=N, ZIP=Y → Reject
- STREET=X, ZIP=Y → Reject
- STREET=Y, ZIP=N → Reject
- STREET=N, ZIP=N → Reject
- STREET=X, ZIP=N → Reject
- STREET=Y, ZIP=X → Reject
- STREET=N, ZIP=X → Reject
- STREET=X, ZIP=X → Reject
If you want to use AVS, but do not have specific expertise or external requirements regarding it, then we recommend the following settings (see scenario 1.i above):
- Billing Address is checked.
- Match Zip is checked.
- Match Street is not checked.
- Require AVS is not checked.
Related articles
- Build and Manage an Event - Step 4
- Administrators - PayPal Setup Requirements