One of the more frustrating things about selling online is dealing with AVS mismatches. Sometimes you get an email from a customer complaining that your payment processor won’t accept their credit card. Most of the time, though, the sale is lost without notice - unless you’re scanning your transaction logs daily.

So What is an AVS Mismatch?

AVS stands for Address Verification System. It’s a system used to defer credit card fraud by checking the customers billing address versus the address filed by the credit card company for that account.

Seems pretty straightforward, doesn’t it? So why is it a problem?

The problem often comes from customers buying with corporate credit cards. I’ve experienced this problem a number of times, and every time so far the problem is that the customer assumes that the address of their work facility is the same as the credit card billing address of record. Often it’s not.

Three Common Scenarios

Here are three common scenarios I’ve had first-hand experience with AVS mismatches:

Small Businesses: With small businesses, sometimes the owner will register the card with their home address used for billing. That’s fine, but they do need to realize that their business address is not going to be the same as their billing address when doing credit card payments on-line.

Medium to Large Businesses: Another common case is when the buyer is located in one state and the corporate headquarters is located in another. Their billing address is usually the address of the headquarters - not their local shipping address.

Parent Companies: This is just another variation of the same thing. If a company has corporate credit cards issued in the name of the parent company, then the buyer needs to know the billing address that the parent company uses.

What Can Be Done?

If you’re a customer, then it’s pretty simple. Find out your corporate billing address and use that.

If you’re a vendor, then there are several things you should do. First, put a small note on your order pages for customers using company buying cards. Second, periodically monitor your transaction logs, looking for AVS mismatches. Third, if a potential customer emails you about a credit card problem, use the advice given here to determine whether this may be the cause of the problem.

AVS Is Good for Everyone

Now all this may seem like a hassle - especially if you’re a customer. But online credit card fraud is a rampant problem, and e-commerce providers take fraud detection seriously. So they really are helping businesses with these extra security measures.

But customers benefit too. You and I are all potential victims of credit card fraud. Online, the fraudulent buyer doesn’t even need your card - just the number, expiration date and usually the 3-digit verification on the back of the card. So AVS checks are a simple way to ensure that one avenue of abuse is cut off, protecting us all.