Risk management methods

2023-09-25 08:06

The Address Verification System and Card Verification Value are security methods used during card payments to prevent fraud.

Address Verification System

Address Verification System (AVS) is a service to verify the billing address provided by the card user during a transaction with the cardholder's billing address on record at the issuing bank. AVS helps to prevent suspicious transactions and credit card fraud.

You can use the AVS result codes returned by Alipay to check whether the buyer of a transaction is the same person as the cardholder. If the billing address information matches, the buyer is more likely the cardholder.

How to get AVS result code

First, the cardholder's billing address details need to be collected. You can collect the billing address by yourself and pass the information to Alipay through paymentMethod.paymentMethodMetaData.billingAddress in the pay (Checkout Payment) API, otherwise Alipay collects this information.

AVS checks whether the collected billing address information matches the address on file with the issuing bank of the cardholder. You can get the AVS result code through paymentResultInfo.avsResultRaw in the following APIs:

in the response body of the pay (Checkout Payment) API
in the response body of the inquiryPayment API
in the request body of the notifyPayment API

AVS result codes

The values of paymentResultInfo.avsResultRaw and corresponding meanings are as follows:

AVS result code	Description
A	Address (Street) matches. Zip code does not match.
B	Street address matches for international transactions. Postal code not verified due to incompatible formats.
C	Street address and postal code not verified for international transactions due to incompatible formats.
D	Street address and postal code match for international transactions. Cardholder name is incorrect.
E	AVS error.
F	Address does match and five-digit ZIP code does match (UK only).
G	Address information is unavailable for international transactions; non-AVS participant.
H	Billing address and postal code match. Cardholder name is incorrect (Amex).
I	Address information not verified for international transactions.
K	Cardholder name matches (Amex).
L	Cardholder name and postal code match (Amex).
M	Cardholder name, street address, and postal code match for international transactions.
N	No match on address (Street) or Zip code.
O	Cardholder name and address match (Amex).
P	Postal codes match for international transactions. Street address not verified due to incompatible formats.
Q	Billing address matches. Cardholder is incorrect (Amex).
R	System unavailable or timed out. Retry.
S	Service not supported by the issuer.
U	Address information is unavailable.
W	Nine-digit Zip code matches. Address (Street) does not.
X	Exact AVS Match.
Y	Address (Street) and five-digit Zip code match.
Z	Five-digit Zip code matches. Address (Street) does not.
0	No service available.

Table 1. AVS result codes

CVV verification

Card Verification Value (CVV), also known as Card Security Code (CSC), or Card Verification Code (CVC), is a value or code that is used to verify the authenticity of card payments. If the CVV, CSC, or CVC code provided by the user does not match the code on record at the issuing bank, the payment may be declined to prevent fraud or unauthorized activity.

How to get CVV result code

First, the cardholder's CVV needs to be collected. You can collect CVV by yourself and pass the information to Alipay through paymentMethod.paymentMethodMetaData.cvv in the pay (Checkout Payment) API, otherwise Alipay collects this information.

You can get the CVV/CSC/CVC result code through paymentResultInfo.cvvResultRaw in the following APIs:

in the response body of the pay (Checkout Payment) API
in the response body of the inquiryPayment API
in the request body of the notifyPayment API

CVV result codes

Result code	Description
Y	CVV matched.
D	CVV did not match.
P	CVV check was performed.
N	CVV should be on the card, but the merchant has indicated CVV is not present.
U	The issuing bank does not support CVV.
X	No CVV information is available.

Table 2. CVV result codes