Card security code is a 3- or 4-digit number (not part of the credit card number) that appears on credit card. Because the card security code appears only on the card and not on receipts or statements, the card security code provides some assurance that the physical card is in the possession of the buyer.
Card security code has various names, depending on the processor. Visa calls it CVV2 and MasterCard calls it CVC2. To ensure that your customers see a consistent name, best practices is to use the term card security code on all end-user materials.
The card security code appears on the back of most cards (usually in the signature field). All or part of the card number appears before the card security code (567 in the example). For American Express, the 4-digit number (1122 in the example) is printed on the front of the card, above and to the right of the embossed account number. Be sure to explain this to your customers.
The card security code check compares the number provided by the customer with the number on file with the issuer and returns one of the following responses:
|
Result |
Meaning |
|
Y |
The submitted information matches information on file with account holder's bank. |
|
N |
The submitted information does not match information on file with the account holder's bank. |
|
X |
Account holder's bank does not support this service. |
|
(null) |
In some cases banks return no value at all. |
The specified action is taken whenever the card security code response is the value that you specified.
The best practices action is to review all transactions with responses other than Y. You set the “strength” of the filter as follows:
Full: Take action if a value of N or X is returned.
Medium: Take action only if a value of N is returned.
Once you switch to Live mode, the AVS and card security code checks that you may have previously set on the configuration page are replaced by the AVS and card security code filter settings. In Observe mode, no action is taken on AVS and card security code. To take action if you are confident of your filter settings, deploy to Active mode.
Because the card security code appears only on the card and not on receipts or statements, the card security code provides some assurance that the physical card is in the possession of the buyer.
Card security code does not, however, provide a guarantee that the actual account holder is making the purchase. Use the AVS Failure and Buyer Authentication filters in addition to card security code to increase your certainty. Buyer Authentication Failure filter is designed to provide greater assurance that the actual account holder is initiating the transaction.