My Merchant Account Blog

AVS Response Codes from LinkPoint API

Sunday, September 28, 2008

When passing an Internet order via the LinkPoint API, a response will be sent back to your shopping cart. In this response, there will be numbers and letters. The response code will look something like:

0097820000019564:YNAM:12345678901234567890123:

The first two letters (YN) is the AVS response. The numeric portion of the customer's address and ZIP code will be compared to the billing address on file from the card issuing bank. For example, if the address is 1234 Main St, Beverly Hills, CA, 90210. The numbers 1234 90210 will be compared. In the example above, the address matched (1234) but the ZIP code did not match.

It is also important to know that the AVS has some limitations:

• The AVS is not always reliable; bad results can be triggered unnecessarily because people move, or report five-digit zip codes and some report nine-digit ZIP codes. This may generate a response stating that the address matches, but the ZIP code does not match.
• The AVS does not process most addresses outside the United States. If you decide to ship only to addresses with good AVS results, you will leave out most international orders.

If the AVS does not come back with a YY for both the numeric part of the billing address and the ZIP code, the merchant should consider vetting the transaction even more. If the customer is in the United States, and the response code is NN, the order should be suspended until the merchant contacts the customer for verification.

The third letter comes from the card association and will vary. This letter will help you know how much more vetting needs to be done. Most shopping carts can be configured as well to understand these letters and immediately let the customer know if he needs to contact you, as the merchant, to verify the order.

AVS Code	Visa	MasterCard	American Express	Discover	Description
YY	Y	Y	A	Y	Address and ZIP code match
NY	Z	Z	Z	Z	Only the ZIP code matched
YN	A	A	Y	A	Only the numeric part of the address matched
NN	N	N	N	N	Neither the address or ZIP code matched
XX	-	W	-	-	Card number not on file
XX	U	U	U	U	Address information not verified for domestic transaction.
XX	R	-	R	R	Retry - system unavailable
XX	S	-	S	S	Service not supported
XX	E	-	-	-	AVS not allowed for card type.
XX	-	-	-	-	Address verification has been requested, but not received.
XX	G	-	-	-	Global non-AVS participant. Normally an international transaction.
YN	B	-	-	-	Street address matches for international transaction; Postal code not verified.
NN	C	-	-	-	Street address and Postal code not verified for international transaction.
YY	D	-	-	-	Street address and Postal code match for international transaction.
YY	F	-	-	-	Street address and Postal code match for international transaction. (UK Only)
NN	I	-	-	-	Address information not verified for international transaction.
YY	M	-	-	-	Street address and Postal code match for international transaction.
NY	P	-	-	-	Postal codes match for international transaction; Street address not verified.

Check with your shopping cart vendor if these variables are not already programmed in your checkout process. It is up to you, the merchant, to decide if the transaction is fraudulent or not.