What an Address Verification Service Can Do for your Offshore Merchant Account

<p align="justify"><font face="tahoma,arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="2">&nbsp;</font></p><p align="justify"><font face="tahoma,arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="2">Security is everybody&#39;s concern,right? And when it comes to guarding your <strong>offshore merchant account</strong>, the <strong>Address Verification Service</strong> (AVS) is an powerful tool to get your hands on.<br /><br />What AVS basically does is to verify the personal address information, plus the billing information given by the customer during the online credit card transaction, with the information filed on the credit card issuer. Sounds like a long process, considering if you have unlimited transactions on a daily basis.&nbsp; <br /><br /></font></p><h1><font face="tahoma,arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="2">How it works</font></h1><p align="justify"><font face="tahoma,arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="2">At the onset of a customer&#39;s online purchase, the billing information goes through a process based on the conditions set by the merchant, credit card issuer, and the bank. This conditions are called &ldquo;permissions&rdquo;, simply, defined, these are the billing information that you want to verify before actually accepting the payment attempt of your customer.&nbsp; These values are varied, and you have the power to dictate how many details you want to be verified.<br /><br />The actual time it takes to verify the information takes a number of seconds to minutes, depending on the AVS software that you are using. We&#39;re talking about information passing through optic cables, so, it really is simultaneous and fast, you don&#39;t want your customers getting hot-headed, considering that they&#39;re actually making you dollars richer.&nbsp;&nbsp; <br />&nbsp;<br />When the information processed encounters a mismatch, you are immediately given a notification.&nbsp; Now, it&#39;s a split second yet a normal scenario to decide whether to deny the transaction or contact the customer and ask for more information.&nbsp; <br /><br /></font></p><h2><font face="tahoma,arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="2">Risky venture</font></h2><p align="justify"><font face="tahoma,arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="2">Accepting credit card payments has always involved risks.&nbsp; Be it in a physical storefront, Mail Order-Telephone Order (MOTO), or in what we are discussing, in an online setting, the possibility of encountering fraud and other scrupulous doings are waiting to happen but nevertheless can be avoided.&nbsp; Remember, credit card transactions will only have names and information, you just have the power to verify.&nbsp; <br /><br /></font></p><h3><font face="tahoma,arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="2">Customer friendly</font></h3><p align="justify"><font face="tahoma,arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="2">Your customer will not be left in the dark when it comes to the processing done by the AVS.&nbsp; But, it&#39;s up to you to to master the art of breaking it down to them gently, if the transaction is denied.&nbsp; NO credit card holder wants to be rejected for a purchase.&nbsp; You should be careful not to touch the button where they&#39;re going to be irate over a matter that has viable options.&nbsp; Do your best to be empathic and explain to them in the notification the exact reasons.&nbsp; What&#39;s most important is to always give options. Never lead them to a dead-end. <br /><br /></font></p><h4><font face="tahoma,arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="2">Merchant&#39;s call</font></h4><p align="justify"><font face="tahoma,arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="2">Below are the response codes that AVS will send to you at every processing of the customer&#39;s information, through these codes, you&#39;ll be able to weigh on how to let them know of what to do so that the transaction will be accepted.&nbsp; <br /><br />●&nbsp; A = address matches, zip code does not<br />●&nbsp; E = data not available/error invalid<br />●&nbsp; N = address and zip code do not match<br />●&nbsp; R = retry, system is unavailable<br />●&nbsp; S = service is not available<br />●&nbsp; U = address information is unavailable<br />●&nbsp; W = nine-digit zip code matches, address does not<br />●&nbsp; X = exact match, address and nine-digit zip code<br />●&nbsp; Y = exact match, address and five-digit zip code<br />●&nbsp; Z = five-digit zip code matches, address does not<br /><br />It is entirely up to you to immediately deny or still approve or give a second chance when there&#39;s a information mismatch.&nbsp; If you approve, chances of encountering lost or stolen, chargebacks or a fraudulent card are higher.&nbsp; <br /><br /></font></p><h5><font face="tahoma,arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="2">Rock-solid protection</font></h5><p align="justify"><font face="tahoma,arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="2">AVS was created and continuously developed to overpower mainly fraudsters who either use a lost or stolen credit card, or uses another&#39;s identity.&nbsp; The motivation was to shield you in card-not present transactions.&nbsp; One note, though, AVS is currently used only by US processors.&nbsp; Language issues and foreign banking policies are still being seriously considered for international providers.&nbsp; Hey, don&#39;t worry, if you&#39;re an <strong>offshore merchant account holder</strong>, as long your account is handled by a <strong>US-based offshore merchant account provider</strong>, everything is in good shape. <br /><br /><br />&nbsp;</font></p>