Credit card companies use Address Verification Systems (AVS) to verify the identity of their customers (for example, matching the street address number and zip code with the street address and zip code provided by the cardholders). Forte uses a more robust address verification system that provides verification checks on credit card account numbers, zip codes, street numbers, states, area codes, and emails. The AVS fields (such as those contained within the response object of the Forte web services) indicate the method and result of a verification check through the following value:

X₁X₂X₃X₄X₅

Where,

Value	Type of Verification Check
X1	Credit Card Account and Zip Code
X2	Credit Card Account and Street Number
X3	State and Zip Code
X4	State and Area Code
X5	Anonymous Email

 

To determine the avs_code value, use the following digits to determine what types of checks the system performed:

Digit	Description
0	Do not perform check
1	Check only; do not decline on fail
2	Check and decline on fail

For example, an avs_code of 22000 indicates that the system only performed the credit card account/zip code (X₁) and the credit card account/street number (X₂) checks. The system did not perform verification checks on the state/zip code, state/area code, and anonymous email values (X₃–X₅).

 

To determine avs_result value, use the following digits to determine which checks passed, failed, or were not performed:

Digit	Description
0	Check not performed
3	Passed
4	Failed

For example, an avs_result of 00334 indicates that the verification checks on the state/zip code (X₃) and state/area code (X₄) both passed; however, the check on the anonymous email (X₅) failed. Whether or not this customer's transaction is declined depends upon the method that was used to perform the checks.