Should I fail transactions based on the CVC/AVS result?

Should I fail transactions based on the CVC/AVS result?

Providing that you submit the Address data and CVC number, as found at the back of the card, we will submit these through to the Acquirer for processing. 

The results of CVC and AVS checks are passed back to us by the bank and we display them in your transaction viewing area as follows:

•ALL MATCH

•SECURITY CODE MATCH ONLY

•ADDRESS MATCH ONLY

•NO DATA MATCHES

•DATA NOT CHECKED

Just as the banks, we will advise you of the status of these checks so that you can decide how you want to proceed, we will not block a transaction that returned an invalid AVS or CVC check. The “false positive” rate for these systems is at a level that can exceed the average fraud levels in the UK, so the cost of interpreting and managing the data is a cost to your business that needs considering.

Please note: CVC verification is stated as mandatory by Visa and recommended by MasterCard. We strongly recommend that you always capture and send the CVC number for processing.

 

Possible reasons for a genuine transaction to fail a CVC check:

  • The CVC number was input incorrectly
  • The card issuing bank doesn’t support the check

Possible reasons for a genuine transaction to fail an AVS check:

  • The address details are input incorrectly
  • The card issuing bank doesn’t support the check (in countries outside of the UK)
  • The cardholder hasn’t registered the card under the right address details
  • The format of the address is unusual i.e. a house name instead of a house number, flat 24b etc.

 

You can decide not to fulfil an order if you are at all suspicious based on the AVS/CVC response. To benefit from AVS and CVC checks you will need to ensure you are submitting these values in your payment form as mapped fields. All mapped field names are listed within the Settings>Form Field Settings page in your User Control Panel.

If you still would like us to fail all transactions that do not pass either the AVS, CVC or both checks by default, please submit a request to our Customer Service Centre via via support@monek.co.uk. 

Please note:  whilst we can fail these transactions, this is done once the banks had already authorised and reserved the funds on the customer's card.  We cannot reverse the authorisation or affect how long the card issuing bank keeps hold on the funds in this scenario, although it is usually only about 5-7 working days.