


After testing with the Littlewoods Home Shopping group and NatWest bank, the concept was adopted by the UK Association for Payment Clearing Services (APACS) and streamlined to the three-digit code known today. It was instituted to reduce the incidence of credit card fraud.ĬSC was originally developed in the UK as an eleven-character alphanumeric code by Equifax employee Michael Stone in 1995. The CSC is used as a security feature for card not present transactions, where a personal identification number (PIN) cannot be manually entered by the cardholder (as they would during point-of-sale or card present transactions). Prevents the use of your Credit Card Number without the matching CVV2 Code.Ĭontact your bank or card issuer for more details.On American Express cards, the card security code is a printed, not embossed, group of four digits on the front towards the rightĪ card security code ( CSC also known by several other names) is a series of numbers that, in addition to the bank card number, is embossed or printed on a card.

The customer has the card in his or her possession.The CVV2 value protects the customer and helps validate the following: The American Express verification number is a small 4-digit number printed on the front of your card on the right hand side.ĬVV2 information is not contained in the magnetic stripe information, nor does it appear on sales receipts. It appears after and to the right of your card number. The verification number is a 3-digit number printed on the back of your card. Some banks, though, only show the last four digits of the account number followed by the code.Īmerican Express cards have a four-digit non-embossed code located on the front of the card. The back panel of most Visa/MasterCard cards contain the full 16-digit account number, followed by the CVV/CVC code. Visa and MasterCard credit/debit cards have the three-digit value printed on the signature panel on the back of the card immediately following the card account number. CVV2 is required on all Visa, Mastercard, and Discover cards. The card Issuer checks the CVV2 code to determine its validity, then sends a CVV2 result back to the merchant along with the authorization.

The merchant asks the customer for the CVV2 code and then sends it to the card Issuer as part of the authorization request. Credit Card Security Code Card Verification Value (CVV2 / CVC2) Security CodeĪlso known as CVV2 or CVC2, it is a three-digit number imprinted on the signature panel of Visa, Mastercard, and Discover cards to help card-not-present merchants verify that the customer has a legitimate card in hand at the time of the order.
