AVS Response Codes: What Each Result Means
A plain guide to the main AVS response codes, what each one tells you, and how to act on the result without punishing good customers.
The payment comes back with a code. It is short, it is cryptic, and your decision to ship hangs on it. Here is what the AVS response codes actually say.
What AVS checks
The Address Verification System is a service that checks if a billing address matches the address of a credit card cardholder. It gives you a way to check if the shopper placing the order is the same person as the cardholder.
The check covers the billing address, not the shipping address. The shipping address is a separate question, and you answer that one yourself.
AVS is a common fraud-prevention measure for card not present transactions, such as online payments or Mail Order/Telephone Order payments. Every online sale you make is one of those. It sits inside the wider job of card not present fraud prevention.
When it runs and which cards it covers
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 for Visa must support AVS verification requests.
Using AVS is not mandatory for you as a merchant. But if you collect billing addresses, the check has something to compare.
One timing note matters. In Adyen, AVS rules run after authorization. That means it is not possible to link an AVS rule to Dynamic 3D Secure.
The main response codes
Some AVS response codes apply to Visa, Mastercard, Discover and American Express. Others belong to one brand. Adyen's docs describe these:
Result 15. The postal codes match, but the street address was not verified because of incompatible formats. The systems just could not read each other's address fields.
Result 22. The card member's name matches, but the billing address and billing postal code do not. This is a weaker result. The name is right, the address is not.
Response code 3. AVS is unavailable, and this code applies to Discover. The check simply did not happen. Treat it as no information, not as a pass or a fail.
When the postal code matches but the address does not
With result 15, the reason given is incompatible formats. The same unit number can be written in several different forms.
A cvv check failed on top of a partial match is a different story.
What to do with each result
Based on the AVS response, you can decide to accept, make an exception, or cancel a transaction. That is the whole toolkit. Three moves, applied the same way every time.
Which one you choose depends on the rest of the order.
In Adyen, when the AVS check results in a mismatch, you can trigger a risk rule. That way the decision is a written rule, not a mood.
How AVS fits with the other checks
AVS is one signal. Put it next to the CVC result, the order amount, the shipping address and the customer's history. A single mismatch on an otherwise clean order is a warning. The same mismatch on a strange order is a pattern.
What AVS cannot do
It cannot read minds. A mismatch can land on a perfectly good customer, which is why an avs mismatch is a prompt to look, not a verdict. And an avs mismatch on a legitimate order can happen, so think before you decline every mismatch.
AVS also cannot see what happens after the sale. A fraudulent sale can still turn into a chargeback later. Use the code as one input, write your rules down, and let the whole order make the case.