CVV2 (Card Verification Value, Second Generation), or CVC2 (Card Verification Code, Second Generation) is a three-digit value that is uniquely derived for each Visa and MasterCard credit card account. It is printed in reverse italic characters on the signature panel of all Visa and MasterCard cards following the last 4 digits of the account number.
In a card-not-present environment such as the Internet, CVV2 lets a merchant verify that the cardholder does in fact have the card in his or her possession. Merchants should keep in mind that if they process a transaction that has not received a complete AVS and CVV2 match, that they usually have no protection against a chargeback for that transaction.
Chargebacks are a function of the agreement between merchants and their banks. For further questions about chargebacks, merchants should consult their merchant account agreement or acquiring bank.
eProcessing Network supports CVV2 by allowing customers, through their merchants, to pass in the CVV2 value found on their credit card, and then telling the merchant whether the customer entered the correct value.
There are three possible scenarios when processing CVV2:
- The customer finds the CVV2 value and enters it into a text input field
- The customers CVV2 value is illegible
- The customers card has no CVV2 value
When prompting a customer for their CVV2 value, the customer needs to be able to specify which of the above scenarios applies. The specified scenario needs to be passed to eProcessing Network when the transaction is processed.
eProcessing Network has developed the following HTML for use by merchants utilizing our services.
<form>
<table>
<tr>
<td align=right><font face=Verdana size=-1>CVV2:</font></td>
<td><input size=3 maxlength=3 name="CVV2" value=""></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align=right><font face=Verdana size=-1>Select:</font></td>
<td>
<select name="CVV2Type">
<option value="9">My card has no CVV2 imprint
<option value="2">My cards' CVV2 is illegible
<option value="1" selected>I have entered my CVV2 above
</select>
</td>
</tr>
</table>
</form>
Note the values 1, 2, and 9 corresponding with the three possible scenarios above. If a value other than 1, 2, or 9 is passed in for CVV2Type, CVV2 will not be processed.
Here is what the above HTML looks like when parsed by most browsers:
For questions, suggestions or special requests, email us at devutils@eprocessingnetwork.com.
