Administrators - E-Commerce Verification Settings

Administrators - E-Commerce Verification Settings

This article will discuss various options for configuring E-Commerce verification settings.

Deciding How to Verify Online Transactions

When setting up your E-Commerce account within Certain, you will see the following options available for payment verification.

• Collect Billing Address – Select if you want to collect a separate billing address for the payor. This can be used with credit card transactions to perform AVS validation ("Address Verification Service").
• Match Zip Code – Require that the billing zip code entered on the form 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 – Require that the billing street address entered on the form match the billing street address for the credit card.
• Require AVS "Yes" Response – Address Verification Service (AVS) is offered by many credit card-issuing institutions. AVS 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: Whether the above fields are available is determined by which Online Processor has been selected. Not all support AVS.
• Require CSC "Yes" Response – Require that the CSC entered on the form match the CSC for the credit card.
• CSC (Card Security Code) is also known by other abbreviations, including CVC2, CVV2, and CID.
• Collect CSC Number – Add 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decides to reject the transaction, then Certain automatically voids the previous transaction so that funds are not withdrawn from the cardholder's account.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. The authorization time-out limit can last several days or weeks.

Because event registration fees are usually big-ticket items (hundreds of USD or more), a cardholder that failed AVS validation several times would quickly consume their credit limit. The cardholder would then 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. Certain performs an authorization request for $0.01 to receive the AVS results based on the provided billing address. Certain immediately voids this authorization 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.

AVS decision tree for credit card acceptance or rejection

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 | STREET=N | STREET=X | |---|---|---|---| | ZIP=Y | Accept | Reject | Accept | | ZIP=N | Reject | Reject | Reject | | ZIP=X | Accept | Reject | 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 | STREET=N | STREET=X | |---|---|---|---| | ZIP=Y | Accept | Reject | Reject | | ZIP=N | Reject | Reject | Reject | | ZIP=X | Reject | Reject | 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 = checked
• Match Zip = checked
• Match Street = not checked
• Require AVS = not checked