CVV Code Required for Card Not Present

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In a further effort to combat online fraud, Visa has announced that all manually keyed transactions must include the CVV2 security code (the three digit code on the back of the credit card) as part of the transaction authorization.

What's changing?

While we've always recommended entering the security code, this was not a requirement. In order to comply with Visa's updated rules, Helcim is making the CVV required for all manually keyed transactions. To increase security and uniformity, this change will impact all credit card types including Visa, Mastercard, American Express and Discover. CVV codes are already required for all eCommerce transactions.

When?

This requirement will come into effect on Tuesday, October 9, 2018.

How will I be impacted?

If you've been entering credit card numbers without the CVV, this field will be required. If the CVV2 code is not present in the authorization, it will fail.

Why is the CVV2 code important?

The CVV code is a useful tool in combating fraud in online transactions because storing a CVV2 code is against the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI-DSS). If a card database is breached or compromised, this information is not present and not transmitted to hackers. Only a person who has access to the physical card will know the code.

What about saved credit cards?

This requirement has no impact for stored credit cards, as storing the CVV is still prohibited. If you're using the Card Vault, Card Tokenization and Recurring Payments, your transactions will continue to be processed without issue. Only when a credit card is added to the vault for the first time will the CVV field be required before it can be stored.

What about in-person transactions?

This does not impact swiped or EMV (chip) transactions.

Now is a good time to switch to Helcim Commerce

If you're using our legacy platforms including the Helcim Virtual Terminal or Converge Gateway, now would be a good time to consider switching your processing over to Helcim Commerce! Helcim Commerce is our new merchant platform that features mobile apps, invoicing, better recurring payments and even a hosted online store. All existing Helcim merchants can access Helcim Commerce without impacting their current pricing. Switching is easy - we can even bring your existing orders, customers and their cards to Commerce automatically. Contact our Support team today to get started!