Section 2: Account Configuration Recommendations
Batches must be performed in order to settle transactions and receive funds for the orders. Your account was either setup to automatically batch your transactions daily or for you to manually batch them. To find if you have to batch your transactions, enter the Transaction administration area - a line at the top of the page will indicate whether or not you have to batch. Return transactions are automatically batched (even on accounts that are setup for manual batching). By default, you are required to manually Assemble and Commit Batches for your orders. We have the ability to set accounts for automatic batching, which removes the need to assemble and commit batches for your account. If you would like this feature enabled, please contact us via the Online Helpdesk. Funds, for your successfully batched transactions, will be deposited into your bank account typically in 3 to 5 business days.
Address Verification (AVS) is a check to compare the address information submitted with a transaction to the address information on file with the card-issuing bank. AVS information is available on cards issued by U.S. banks and many international banks. An AVS response is returned when a transaction is submitted. You, as the merchant, can decide whether to complete the order based on its AVS response. All accounts have the AVS level set to ‘0’ by default. This default level performs the AVS check on all transactions, however no automated transaction voids are performed when an address and/or zip code mismatch is seen. With this default level, it is the responsibility of the merchant to review their order confirmations and reject/void orders manually. We recommend setting the AVS level to at least a level of ‘1’. This will perform the most basic AVS transaction filtering. Please see the ‘AVS Specifications’ document in the Documentation/FAQ section of your account for more details. This document will contain an overview of the AVS system, provide a list of possible response codes, show what AVS levels are available, and tell you how to implement a higher AVS level in your account.
CVV checking is disabled by default, but can be activated upon request. This can be enabled in your Fraudtrack section; if there is not a link to Fraudtrack, please let us know using the Online Helpdesk.
Rule of thumb: if you think an order is fraudulent or questionable, you should verify the order with a phone call to the customer to confirm they placed the order. Orders where the customer provides a shipping address that you believe does not exist, or where the customer is shipping to a separate country should be verified.
Example: United States billing address with a Lebanon shipping address. Enforcing AVS and CVV helps to prevent fraudulent usage of credit cards.
A simple follow-up with the customer and using our fraud tracking services/features is every merchant’s best bet to catch and verify fraudulent transactions.
Please note: As with any voids, the automatic voids after AVS/CVV failures (based on your account settings) do not cancel the authorization at the customer’s card-issuing bank; this can only be done by the card-issuing bank - a void in our system only prevents the authorization from being settled.