Address Verification Service

•Definition:The Address Verification Service (AVS) verifies the billing address that is sentwith the transaction against thecardholder's billingaddress on file at the card issuer.

AVS checking is performed by matching thenumericaladdress informationprovided at the time of a purchase (such as in a shipping address field) withthat numerical address information held on record for the authorized cardholder. AVS does not examine the text portion ofthe address

•Card issuers do not decline transactions because of AVS mismatches. The merchant decides how to handle the AVS information.

•For supported processors and card types, the issuing bank uses AVS to confirm that thecustomer hasprovided the correct billing address. If the customer provides incorrect information, the transaction might be fraudulent

•Settling authorizations that fail the AVS check might have an impact on the fees charged by yourbank.Contact your bank for details about how AVS management might affect yourdiscount rate.