What is a CVV you ask? A CVV stands for “card verification value,” which acts like another layer of security to protect your card from theft. When you make transactions online or over the phone, having the CVV will confirm your identity and make sure that you’re transaction is safe.
Not all retailers will require you to use your CVV when you scan your card. However, when you’re not there in person, lots of merchants will ask for a CVV when making a transaction. In this guide, you’ll see why we have CVV’s, where to find it, and how it protects you.
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Why Do We Have a CVV?
Your CVV is normally a 3 to 4 digit code found in the front or the back of your card. Having a CVV will serve as another protective layer to confirm that you have the physical copy of your credit card. Depending on who you bank with, they will have different names for it. For example Mastercard, Visa, and Discover cards are a 3 digit code found on the back of the card. American Express has a 4 digit code found on the front, and they call it the CID “card identification number.”
Most retailers won’t ask you for this code if you’re making a purchase in person. However, they might ask you for it just for your protection against fraud. By doing this, it will confirm that they’re making an order with someone that is a legitimate cardholder. If your credit card number were to be stolen, they won’t be able to make any transactions on your card without your CVV.
Whenever you use your card to buy products, sometimes the merchants will ask for the CVV, the expiration date, or your PIN “personal identification number.” It’s not mandatory to ask these questions, but it will be safer for them to ask.
How a CVV Will Protect You
When a thief hacks into a computer system at a retailer, they’ll be able to steal your credit card number that they have stored in the database. Once they’ve accomplished this task, they can use your credit card number to make transactions however they want. However, as major retailers will store your credit card number, it’s not allowed to keep your CVV or CID just for this scenario. The thief won’t have access to your CVV number when they steal your number from a database system, making them enable to use your card.
Having your CVV will be very beneficial for you when you make online transactions. If a hacker manages to get a hold on your full name, expiration date, and credit card information, they won’t have your CVV code. Again, it acts like a barrier to the hackers, enabling them to use your card to make their own purchases. The PCI DDS (Payment Card Industry’s Data Security Standard) was made to uphold rules on credit card information storage. One of the rules that they have is that retailers aren’t able to keep all of your card information in their systems.
Your CVV will work when you slide the magnetic strip or put the chip into the machine. With the new advanced technology, your CVV will be confirmed once the magnetic strip or the chip is read on the machine. This digital CVV can also be called the Integrated Chip Card Verification Value (iCVV). Keep in mind that it’s also important that you’ve done your research on which card you should purchase. Every card has different security features that you should look into before you settle with that card.
How to Protect Your Card
Another way that thieves are able to steal your credit card number is to send you legitimate looking emails. These emails will have links or forms that will ask you to put in your credit card information. I would advise against clicking on any of those links just to keep your card safe. When visiting a website, be sure that you look for the “Secure” tag making sure that their website is safe for you to put information into. Encrypted websites will have that tag that shows you that they are protected.
You should also never safe all of your card information to a website, your CVV especially. There are websites that will only ask for your CVV for the first order you’ve made. Other orders that you make on that website will be assumed to be legitimate. So if you are saving your card information on a website, make sure that they are secure before doing so.
Getting your CVV is harder for a hacker to have access to. With that in mind, if you want to save your card information to a website, be sure that you don’t save your CVV on there. This way if they do manage to steal your credit card number, they won’t be able to make any transactions with it. If your physical card is stolen, freeze or cancel the card before your identity is stolen.
Conclusion
There are many ways that your card information can get out, so having a CVV is very beneficial. Most cards will have the CVV printed on the front or the back of the card. It will act like another barrier of protection against people that want to steal your credit card information for themselves. By using your CVV, it will confirm that you’re a legitimate cardholder and reduce the risk of identity theft.
Additionally, If you are interested be sure to check out our list of bank bonuses and CD rates!
