Address verification (AVS)
During card payment transactions, Address Verification Service (AVS) checks the validity of the billing address that the cardholder provided. AVS plays a key role in Cross River’s efforts to prevent fraud and ensure transaction security. This simple yet powerful tool strengthens security, helping keep transactions safe. As a fraud detection measure, AVS helps make Cross River’s entire ecosystem a safe environment for its merchant partners.
When customers transact online, the card is not visible to the merchant. By confirming card details with the issuing bank online, we can detect possible fraud activity. We can also find out if it's likely the transaction is unauthorized. AVS helps protect consumers, our merchant partners, and Cross River!
When a customer enters their billing address, Cross River sends it to the card issuing bank. The issuing bank, in turn, compare the address with the one they have on file. If the address is a match, the transaction proceeds smoothly. However, if there is a mismatch, this could be a sign of potential fraud. Note that non-matching AVS responses will not decline a transaction automatically. That’s because there could be a few valid reasons for the mismatch. For example, the consumer may have mixed up digits in the zip code. Ultimately, it is up to the merchant to decide whether to accept the transaction. They make this decision based on AVS results as well as other key data.
The results of checking AVS are held in the Add a card (POST API) function call. This call contains the following key attribute as part of its response:
AddressVerfied (true/false). If the merchant isn't configured for the AVS service, contact your Cross River relationship manager for details on how to connect to AVS.
- Prevent fraud. Catch suspicious activities early, preventing fraudulent transactions from occurring.
- Protect customers. Ensure that transactions are authorized, protecting consumers from unauthorized charges.
- Save costs. Detect fraud before it happens. This saves money and prevents losses for everyone involved in the card payments process.
- Ensure trust. Consumers trust their merchant sites a lot more when they know their acquiring bank is working to keep transactions secure.
- Promote efficiency. Automate the verification process. This makes transactions go more smoothly for legitimate consumers.
