---
title: "Address Verification System (AVS)"
description: "Set up and use Address Verification System (AVS) checks to reduce fraud risk."
url: "https://docs.adyen.com/risk-management/avs-checks"
source_url: "https://docs.adyen.com/risk-management/avs-checks.md"
canonical: "https://docs.adyen.com/risk-management/avs-checks"
last_modified: "2023-03-17T12:10:00+01:00"
language: "en"
---

# Address Verification System (AVS)

Set up and use Address Verification System (AVS) checks to reduce fraud risk.

[View source](/risk-management/avs-checks.md)

The Address Verification System (AVS) is a service that verifies if a billing address matches the address of a credit card cardholder. AVS is a widely used fraud-prevention measure for [Card Not Present](/get-started-with-adyen/adyen-glossary/#card-not-present-cnp) (CNP) transactions, such as online payments or point-of-sale [Mail Order/Telephone Order (MOTO)](/point-of-sale/mail-and-telephone-order-moto) payments.\
AVS gives you a way to check if the shopper who is placing the order is the same person as the cardholder, which is more likely if the billing address details match.

## Requirements

Before you begin, take into account the following requirements and limitations.

| Requirement                                          | Description                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        |
| ---------------------------------------------------- |   |
| **Integration type**                                 | Make sure that you have built an [online payments integration](/online-payments/build-your-integration/) and that [risk management is enabled](/risk-management/configure-risk-settings/).                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         |
| **[Customer Area roles](/account/user-roles/#risk)** | Make sure that you have one of the following role(s):- **Merchant change risk settings**
- **Risk admin**                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          |
| **Limitations**                                      | Take into account the following limitations:- Protect [premium features](/risk-management/configure-risk-settings/#risk-general) must be enabled to create custom risk rules.
- Because AVS rules run after authorization, it is not possible to link an AVS rule to [Dynamic 3D Secure](/risk-management/dynamic-3d-secure/).
- AVS is supported for card payments with Visa, Mastercard, Discover or American Express. Credit card issuers in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Europe (Visa only) must support AVS verification requests. In other countries or regions, this is not the case. |

## How does AVS work?

When a shopper pays for a transaction, you can collect their billing address details. Then, you send that data in the `billingAddress` object in the payment authorization request. When you have enabled AVS, the system checks if and to what extent these billing address details match the information that the issuing bank has on file about the holder of the credit card.

The response to the payment request will contain an Adyen AVS response code that is mapped to a raw AVS response code. You can see the mapping in the [mapping table](#avs-mapping-table).

When the AVS check results in a mismatch, you can [trigger a risk rule](#avs-risk-rules). You can use the Adyen-provided Address Verification System (AVS) rule, or create a custom post-authorization rule when you have enabled premium features.

Based on the AVS response, you can decide what to do with the payment: you can accept, make an exception, or cancel a transaction.

AVS is supported for card payments with Visa, Mastercard, Discover or American Express. Credit card issuers in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Europe (Visa only) must support AVS verification requests when you send them in, however, using AVS is not mandatory for you as a merchant.

## Enable and test AVS

To be able to trigger AVS and the AVS risk rules, you set up your payment authorization requests to include billing address details. How you do that depends on your integration. Follow the instructions below that are relevant for you.

### AVS in API requests

1. Collect the shopper's billing address details in your checkout form, and include them in the payment request. If you are using a client-side integration for Web, the [Web Drop-in](/payment-methods/cards/web-drop-in) and [Card Component](/payment-methods/cards/web-component) can be configured to collect your shopper's billing address.

2. Send the collected billing address information in the payment authorization request. Provide the full address of the shopper using the `billingAddress` child element:

   * When you submit the `billingAddress` object for AVS, the following child elements are required:

   | Field               | Type   | Required                                                                                                                                                | Description                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             |
   | ------------------- | ------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
   | `country`           | String | ![Required](/user/pages/reuse/image-library/01.icons/required/required.svg?decoding=auto\&fetchpriority=auto)                                           | The `country` value format needs to adhere to the [ISO 3166-1 alpha-2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_3166-1_alpha-2) standard. An invalid country code results in a transaction/request rejection. You can [look up country codes](https://www.iso.org/obp/ui/) on the ISO website. |
   | `city`              | String | ![Required](/user/pages/reuse/image-library/01.icons/required/required.svg?decoding=auto\&fetchpriority=auto)                                           | The name of the city.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   |
   | `street`            | String | ![Required](/user/pages/reuse/image-library/01.icons/required/required.svg?decoding=auto\&fetchpriority=auto)                                           | The name of the street.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 |
   | `houseNumberOrName` | String | ![Required](/user/pages/reuse/image-library/01.icons/required/required.svg?decoding=auto\&fetchpriority=auto)                                           | The number or name of the house.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        |
   | `postalCode`        | String | ![Required](/user/pages/reuse/image-library/01.icons/required/required.svg?decoding=auto\&fetchpriority=auto)                                           | A maximum of five digits for an address in the US, or a maximum of ten characters for an address in all other countries/regions.                                                                                                                                                        |
   | `stateOrProvince`   | String | ![Conditionally required](/user/pages/reuse/image-library/01.icons/conditionally-required/conditionally-required.svg?decoding=auto\&fetchpriority=auto) | Required for shoppers from the US or Canada. Provide the child element `stateOrProvince` as defined in ISO 3166-2. For example, **CA** in the US or **ON** for Canada. AVS does not validate `stateOrProvince`.                                                                         |

   * Pass address lines, like apartment or unit number, as part of `street`.
   * If you do not know the country/region or are not collecting the country/region from the shopper, provide `country` as **ZZ**.

   To qualify for better interchange rates submit the billing address and ZIP code for card not present transactions. This is not guaranteed, contact our [Support Team](https://ca-test.adyen.com/ca/ca/contactUs/support.shtml?form=other) to learn more.

### Test AVS results

To test your system's response to receiving an `avsResult`:

1. Use our provided [AVS test cards and billing addresses](/development-resources/testing/risk-features/#address-verification-system-avs) or [create your own test cards](/development-resources/testing/create-test-cards).
2. Include and define all the required `billingAddress` parameters.
3. Set the value of `street` to **Test AVS result**.
4. Set the value of `houseNumberOrName` to the AVS response code that you want to test from the [mapping table](#avs-mapping-table). This table shows AVS response codes returned by Adyen, which are mapped to raw AVS response codes from acquirers.

## Use AVS risk rules

You can enable and use the Adyen-provided [Address Verification System (AVS)](/risk-management/configure-your-risk-profile/post-auth-rules) post-authorization rule.

When you have enabled premium features, you can create a post-authorization [custom rule](/risk-management/configure-your-risk-profile/custom-rules). In your custom rule, for the field `avsResponseCode`, you can use the Adyen response values from the [mapping table](#avs-mapping-table) to define the risk rule behavior.

## AVS responses and mapping

Different card brands and networks have specific AVS response codes. Many of them are mapped to the response codes that you receive from Adyen. We also have a number of Adyen AVS response codes to accommodate acquirers that send in slightly different raw AVS responses.

For the mapping of AVS results for point-of-sale MOTO transactions with AVS, refer to [AVS responses for point of sale](/point-of-sale/avs-responses-pos).

If you prefer to receive the actual response code from the card or network, you can turn these on in your Customer Area:

1. Log in to your [Customer Area](https://ca-live.adyen.com/).
2. Go to **Developers** > **Additional data**.
3. Select the **Acquirer result** and **Raw acquirer result** checkboxes.
4. Select **Save configuration**.

The Adyen AVS response in your test environment is a simulated value because the test payments are not processed via a live acquirer. In your live environment, you will receive both a raw AVS response from the acquirer, and the Adyen AVS response.

| AVS Adyen response code | Description                                               | AVS Raw response code | Applies to                                                          | Details                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       |
| ----------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------- |   |
| **0**                   | Unknown.                                                  | -                     | All issuers                                                         | Adyen did not receive an answer from the issuing bank. You can block or allow transactions with an unknown AVS result through the post-authorization [AVS rule](/risk-management/configure-your-risk-profile/post-auth-rules#configure-post-auth) options.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    |
| **1**                   | Address matches, but the postal code does not match.      | **A**                 | Varies per card scheme                                              | Visa and Mastercard: Address matches, postal code does not.American Express: Address only matches.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            |
| **2**                   | Neither postal code nor address match.                    | **N**                 | Visa, Mastercard, Discover, American Express                        | Neither address nor postal code matches.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      |
| **3**                   | AVS unavailable.                                          | **R, S, U**           | Visa, Mastercard, Discover, American Express                        | **R**: System unavailable or timed out. Discover: Not applicable.**S**: AVS currently not supported.**U**: No data from issuer/Authorization Platform. Discover: System unavailable or timed out.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             |
| **4**                   | AVS not supported for this card type.                     | -                     | Any credit card except Visa, Mastercard, Discover, American Express | -                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             |
| **5**                   | No AVS data provided.                                     | -                     | Visa, Mastercard, Discover, American Express                        | -                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             |
| **6**                   | Postal code matches, but the address does not match.      | **T, W, Z**           | Varies per card scheme                                              | **T**: Discover only: for U.S. addresses, nine-digit postal code matches, address does not.**W**: Mastercard only: For U.S. addresses, nine-digit postal code matches, address does not; for address outside the U.S., postal code matches, address does not.**Z**: Visa: for U.S. addresses, either five-digit or nine-digit postal code matches, address does not.**Z**: Mastercard and Discover: for U.S. addresses, five-digit postal code matches, address does not.**Z**: American Express: only postal code matches.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   |
| **7**                   | Both postal code and address match.                       | **A, D, F, M, X, Y**  | Varies per card scheme                                              | **A**: Discover: Address and five-digit postal code match.**D**: Visa only. Street address and postal code match.**F**: Visa only. Street address and postal code match. Applies to U.K. only.**M**: Visa only. Street address and postal code match.**X**: Visa and American Express: not applicable.**X**: Mastercard: For U.S. addresses, all postal code digits match; for addresses outside the U.S., postal code and address match.**X**: Discover: For U.S. addresses, nine-digit postal code and address match.**Y**: Visa: For U.S. addresses, five-digit postal or nine-digit postal code matches.**Y**: Mastercard: For U.S. addresses, five-digit postal code and address matches.**Y**: Discover: Address only matches.**Y**: American Express: Postal code and address matches. |
| **8**                   | Address not checked, postal code unknown.                 | -                     | Visa, Mastercard, Discover, American Express                        | Only used for acquirers that do not use a standard AVS raw response.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          |
| **9**                   | Address matches, postal code unknown.                     | -                     | Visa, Mastercard, Discover, American Express                        | Only used for acquirers that do not use a standard AVS raw response.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          |
| **10**                  | Address doesn't match, postal code unknown.               | -                     | Visa, Mastercard, Discover, American Express                        | Only used for acquirers that do not use a standard AVS raw response.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          |
| **11**                  | Postal code not checked, address unknown.                 | -                     | Visa, Mastercard, Discover, American Express                        | Only used for acquirers that do not use a standard AVS raw response.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          |
| **12**                  | Address matches, postal code not checked.                 | **B**                 | Visa                                                                | Street address match. Postal code not verified because of incompatible formats. (Acquirer sent both street address and postal code.)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          |
| **13**                  | Address doesn't match, postal code not checked.           | -                     | Visa, Mastercard, Discover, American Express                        | Only used for acquirers that do not use a standard AVS raw response.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          |
| **14**                  | Postal code matches, address unknown.                     | -                     | Visa, Mastercard, Discover, American Express                        | Only used for acquirers that do not use a standard AVS raw response.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          |
| **15**                  | Postal code matches, address not checked.                 | **P**                 | Visa                                                                | Postal codes match. Street address not verified because of incompatible formats. (Acquirer sent both street address and postal code.)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         |
| **16**                  | Postal code doesn't match, address unknown.               | -                     | Visa, Mastercard, Discover, American Express                        | Only used for acquirers that do not use a standard AVS raw response.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          |
| **17**                  | Postal code doesn't match, address not checked.           | -                     | Visa, Mastercard, Discover, American Express                        | Only used for acquirers that do not use a standard AVS raw response.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          |
| **18**                  | Neither postal code nor address were checked.             | **C, G, I**           | Visa                                                                | **C**: Street address and postal code not verified because of incompatible formats. (Acquirer sent both street address and postal code.)**G**: Non-AVS participant outside the U.S.; address not verified for international transaction.**I**: Address information not verified for international transaction.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                |
| **19**                  | Name and postal code matches.                             | -                     | Visa, Mastercard, Discover, American Express                        | Only used for acquirers that do not use a standard AVS raw response.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          |
| **20**                  | Name, address and postal code matches.                    | -                     | Visa, Mastercard, Discover, American Express                        | Only used for acquirers that do not use a standard AVS raw response.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          |
| **21**                  | Name and address matches.                                 | -                     | Visa, Mastercard, Discover, American Express                        | Only used for acquirers that do not use a standard AVS raw response.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          |
| **22**                  | Name matches.                                             | **K**                 | American Express                                                    | Card member's name matches, but billing address and billing postal code do not match.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         |
| **23**                  | Postal code matches, name doesn't match.                  | -                     | Visa, Mastercard, Discover, American Express                        | Only used for acquirers that do not use a standard AVS raw response.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          |
| **24**                  | Both postal code and address matches, name doesn't match. | -                     | Visa, Mastercard, Discover, American Express                        | Only used for acquirers that do not use a standard AVS raw response.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          |
| **25**                  | Address matches, name doesn't match.                      | -                     | Visa, Mastercard, Discover, American Express                        | Only used for acquirers that do not use a standard AVS raw response.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          |
| **26**                  | Neither postal code, address nor name matches.            | -                     | Visa, Mastercard, Discover, American Express                        | Only used for acquirers that do not use a standard AVS raw response.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          |

## See also

* [Test Address Verification System (AVS)](/development-resources/testing/risk-features/#address-verification-system-avs)
* [AVS responses for point of sale](/point-of-sale/avs-responses-pos)
* [Post-authorization rules](/risk-management/configure-your-risk-profile/post-auth-rules)
* [Custom rules](/risk-management/configure-your-risk-profile/custom-rules)
