What is CVV2

Credit Card Thieves hate it. But you'll love it knowing it will help to keep your credit card safe and reduce fraud.

What is CVV2?
CVV2 is a new authentication scheme established by credit card companies to further efforts towards reducing fraud for internet transactions. It consists of requiring a card holder to enter the CVV2 number in at transaction time to verify that the card is on hand.

The Credit Card Validation Code is a 3 or 4 digit security code printed on the card. We use this code, as well as Address and Zip Code verification, to make decisions on whether to accept charges. This increases our commitment to protect consumers from fraud and reduces our exposure to fraud.

Visa & MasterCard:
	This number is printed on your MasterCard & Visa cards in the signature area of the back of the card. (it is the last 3 digits AFTER the credit card number in the signature area of the card).

More Information:
All MasterCard cards were required to have CVC by January 1, 1997.
All Visa cards were required to have CVV by January 1, 2001.

The back panel of most Visa/MasterCard cards contain the full 16-digit account number, followed by the CVV/CVC code. Some banks, though, only show the last four digits of the account number followed by the code.