AVS Response CodesUnderstanding Responses to AVS Checks

From A to Z: What Your AVS Response Code Tells You About Address Matches & Mismatches

An AVS check is nuanced. Instead of a “pass” or “fail” grade, what you get back is an AVS response code, a single letter that tells you exactly how well the address information matched (or mismatched) the info on file.

For instance, was the street address right, but the zip code off? Or was the street address wrong, but the zip code right? How close was it to the correct address? Could it have simply been a typo submitted by the real user, or is it probable fraud?

Understanding this alphabet of responses can help you to make smarter decisions about which transactions to approve, flag, or decline.

What are the AVS Response Codes?

Address Verification Service response codes are returned by the credit card issuer in response to each AVS verification request. The AVS response code provides you with information about the outcome of the AVS check. This code indicates whether the billing address information provided by the customer matches the information on file with the issuer.

There are several different AVS response codes, each of which provides different information about the outcome of the AVS check. Examples include:

Those are just a few of the most common AVS response codes. However, there are more than two dozen responses you may receive, depending on the card brand involved. Check out the full list of AVS response codes below:

Code	Visa	Mastercard	Discover	American Express
A	Street address matches, ZIP does not	Street address matches, ZIP does not	Street address matches, ZIP does not	Street address matches, ZIP does not
B	Street address matches, but ZIP not verified.	Not applicable	Not applicable	Not applicable
C	Street address and ZIP not verified	Not applicable	Not applicable	Not applicable
D	Street address and ZIP match (International Only)	Not applicable	Not applicable	Not applicable
E	AVS data is invalid or AVS is not allowed for this card type.	Not applicable	Not applicable	Not applicable
F	Street address and postal code match (UK Only)	Not applicable	Not applicable	Street address matches, card member name does not match
G	Non-U.S. issuing bank does not support AVS.	Not applicable	Not applicable	Not applicable
I	Address information not verified for international transaction	Not applicable	Not applicable	Not applicable
K	Not applicable	Not applicable	Not applicable	Card member name matches
L	Not applicable	Not applicable	Not applicable	Card member name and ZIP match
M	Street address and postal code match (International Only)	Not applicable	Not applicable	Card member name, street address, and ZIP code match
N	Street address and ZIP code do not match	Street address and ZIP code do not match	Street address and ZIP code do not match	Street address and ZIP code do not match
O	Not applicable	Not applicable	Not applicable	Card member name and street address match
P	Zip code matches, street address unverifiable due to incompatible formats (International Only)	Not applicable	Not applicable	Not applicable
R	System unavailable, retry	System unavailable, retry	System unavailable, retry	System unavailable, retry
S	AVS not supported	AVS not supported	AVS not supported	AVS not supported
T	Not applicable	Not applicable	9-Digit ZIP matches, street address does not	Not applicable
U	Address information unavailable. Returned if the U.S. bank does not support non-U.S. AVS or if the AVS in a U.S. bank is not functioning properly.	Address information unavailable	Address information unavailable	Address information unavailable
W	9-Digit ZIP matches, street address does not	9-Digit ZIP matches, street address does not	9-Digit ZIP matches, street address does not	Card member name, ZIP, and street address do NOT match
X	9-Digit ZIP and street address match	9-Digit ZIP and street address match	9-Digit ZIP and street address match	Not applicable
Y	5-Digit ZIP and street address match	5-Digit ZIP and street address match	5-Digit ZIP and street address match	5-Digit ZIP and street address match
Z	5-Digit ZIP matches, street address does not	5-Digit ZIP matches, street address does not	5-Digit ZIP matches, street address does not	5-Digit ZIP matches, street address does not

Understanding and Interpreting AVS Response Codes

AVS response codes can tell you how risky a particular transaction might be. Since these codes vary slightly from card network to card network, I think the best way to keep things simple is by grouping them into three categories: Green Light, Yellow Light, and Red Light.

Setting Rules Based on Your Risk Tolerance

Of course, there aren’t hard-and-fast rules about how to respond to individual AVS codes. The right strategy ultimately depends entirely on your risk tolerance, vertical, and other factors.

Let’s imagine you sell high-value, easily-resellable items like jewelry or designer goods. The potential loss from a single fraudulent transaction far outweighs the risk of losing a few sales due to false declines, so in this case, you may want to decline any transaction that doesn’t return a full match (i.e. codes X or Y).

On the other hand, say you sell low-cost items or high-margin digital services. Here, you can afford to be more lenient. To maximize conversions, you might accept all partial matches (codes A and Z) and maybe even code U transactions, especially if you have customers located in countries where AVS checks aren’t supported. The goal here is to reduce checkout friction for genuine customers, as the cost of a potential lost sale or chargeback is comparatively low.

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Benefits of AVS

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