Buying gas
Hi everyone its been several years since we travelled south to the U.S .The major problem we encountered was buying gas without a zip code with our Canadian credit cards. We tried the postal code tric...
Forum Discussion
doxiemom11 wrote:
US zip codes are 5 digits. The example above with 6 digits would not work.
We here in the US also occasionally have a pump ask for a zip code. Don't know what triggers it as it's happened with both a debit and a credit card.
It's triggered if the gas station in question has been set up with the Address Verification System (AVS). This computer system compares the Zip Code one keys in at the pump with the Zip Code on file with the card issuer (the Zip is not encoded on the card itself).
Not all stations use AVS (so no Zip would be asked for) and there is evidence that even if AVS is used, it will now sometimes accept the three numbers in a Canadian Postal code followed by two zeros as a valid Zip. The latter may depend on the specific gas station or chain, the AVS options selected by the station, the type of card used, the issuing agency and whether that issuing agency participates with AVS (not all CDN banks did just a few years back. Don’t know about today).
