Account name inquiry (ANI)
The ANI service matches and verifies the name of an account holder. It checks whether the name on file at the issuing bank is the same as the one the consumer provides during a transaction. This happens in a way that is similar to address verification (AVS). ANI is vital for ensuring secure and accurate card payments.
Similar to AVS, ANI strengthens security, minimizes fraud risk, and maintains the accuracy of transactions. This helps create a safe payment experience that consumers, merchant partners, and card issuers can trust.
ANI also helps check for ineligible transactions. For example, a cardholder requesting earned wage access via push-to-card may have given an incorrect name. This could indicate that the cardholder-provided card details do not really belong to the cardholder.
Cross River always initiates an ANI verification transaction during card authorization. This step is essential before making any AFT or OCT request. As part of this process, the card authorization API (Add a card) returns the ANI results. This compares if the names that the transaction initiator provided match the data held by the card issuing bank.
If a card issuer doesn't yet support the ANI service, the merchant gets a response code. This code indicates that the cardholder's name is unverified because their card issuing bank doesn't support ANI.
The Add a card response contains the following key attributes:
- nameVerificationUsed indicates whether Cross River tried to contact the ANI service. This attribute value will also let you know if the merchant isn't configured for the ANI service. In that case, we recommend contacting your Cross River relationship manager for details on how to connect to ANI.
- nameVerificationResult indicates whether the initiator-provided card details match fully, partially, or not at all, or if they are unknown.
- Enhance security. Adds extra security by verifying the account holder's identity.
- Prevent fraud. Detects unauthorized transactions in real-time, preventing the loss of money.
- Build customer trust. Verifies account details before problems occur.
- Ensure accuracy. Reduces errors in transactions by ensuring the person making the transaction is the real account holder.
- Comply with standards. Meets security and verification standards for payment transactions, such as KYC, AML, POA, and so forth.


