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Compliance

Address Verification for card processing (AVS)

AVS compares the numeric parts of a billing address — house number and postcode — against what the card issuer holds. Here's what that catches, and what it doesn't.

What is Address Verification in Card Processing?

Address Verification, also known as the Address Verification Service (AVS), is a security measure used during card payment transactions. Its purpose is to reduce fraud by ensuring the billing address provided by the cardholder matches the address held by the card-issuing bank.

When processing card payments, AVS compares the numeric parts of the address (house or apartment numbers and postal/ZIP codes) entered by the customer against the records maintained by the issuing bank. If these details match, the transaction receives an AVS approval, reducing the likelihood of fraudulent activity.

AVS helps merchants:

  • Detect suspicious transactions.
  • Reduce chargebacks.
  • Comply with PCI DSS security standards.
  • Lower risk and potential financial losses from fraud.

How AVS Works:

  1. Customer enters their card information and billing address at checkout.
  2. The merchant sends these details along with the payment request.
  3. The payment gateway forwards the request to the issuing bank.
  4. The issuing bank verifies the provided address against its records.
  5. A response code is returned indicating:
    • Full Match
    • Partial Match
    • No Match
  6. The merchant then decides whether to accept or reject the transaction based on their own fraud prevention rules.

Using AVS adds an extra layer of protection, ensuring safer transactions for both customers and merchants.

How AVS Works on Paytia

Paytia provides the ability to
1. Turn on and off address verification as a service in their Agent Capture Assist form.
2. Set which fields are required and not required, shown or hidden in the address capture page.

Address Verification for card processing (AVS) screenshot

Please see 
How do I change Agent Capture Assist address fields for (AVS) Address Verification?

Paytia provides the result of the address verification check on the agent screen, in agent email alert notifications, and over the Paytia API push events.

Address Verification for card processing (AVS) screenshot


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Does using Paytia combat fraud?

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How does Paytia help us with our Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS) compliance?

We're a PCI-DSS Level 1 service provider, so your business never accesses, stores or transmits card details on a phone payment. That takes telephone payments out of your compliance scope.

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What is DTMF Suppression?

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Still need help?

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