<span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: ‘Lucida Sans’;" class="R~sep~ACopyBody">We were attempting to make a purchase in a local store this morning and when we used our debit/credit card, the cashier requested the security code from the back of the card. Is this OK? If it is a “security” code, why should we give it to anyone who just ran the card?</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">The security code, a three- or four-digit number depending on the card issuer, is primarily an identity verifier for transactions conducted via telephone or the Internet — that is, when the retailer can’t see the card.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">A face-to-face transaction makes a request for the security code seem unnecessary, but retailers often check for the code as a way to authenticate the card. Still, before you give out the security code you should ask the employee why the retailer needs the information.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">According to the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council, a consortium of the major credit card companies, the data recorded on the magnetic stripe, along with card logos and holograms, comprise one layer of</span> <span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">security.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">The collection of features is referred to as the Card Authentication Value, or CAV, on JCB cards; the Card Validation Code, or CVC, on MasterCard cards; the Card Verification Value, or CVV, on Visa and Discover cards; and the Card Security Code, or CSC, on American Express cards.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">The three- and four-digit numbers comprise a second layer of security, the PCI council says.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">“For Discover, JCB, MasterCard, and Visa payment cards, the second type of card verification value or code is the rightmost three-digit value printed in the signature panel area on the back of the</span> <span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">card,” reads the PCI council’s website.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">“For American Express payment cards, the code is a four-digit unembossed number printed above the (account number) on the face of the payment cards. The code is uniquely associated with each individual piece of plastic and ties the (account number) to the plastic.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">The security code is referred to as the Card Identification Number, or CID, by American Express and Discover; the Card Authentication Value 2, or CAV2, by JCB; the Card Validation Code 2, or CVC2, by MasterCard; and the Card Verification Value 2, or CVV2, by Visa.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">Neither the security codes nor card expiration dates are among the data encoded on magnetic stripes or embedded microchips.</span>

<span class="R~sep~AHeadsubhead">Fraud prevalence</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">“Globally, card fraud totaled $11.3 billion in 2012, an increase of 15% from 2011. In the United States, although fraud constituted less than 1% of total expenditures, credit card losses totaled $5.33 billion in 2012, an increase of 14.5% from 2011,” reads a Congressional Research Service report, released May 17, about chip cards.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">“The United States has been disproportionately affected by fraud: Since 2003, the United States has consistently accounted for about half of the total global loss, but for only about a quarter of the total volume of card payments.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">“Between 2004 and 2010, fraud committed on U.S.-issued bank credit cards rose 70%. Debit card fraud also rose, with cards using a signature for verification accounting for 91% of the fraud and cards using a PIN for verification accounting for 9%.”</span>

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<span style="font-weight: bold;" class="R~sep~ACopyEditors~sep~endnote">Online:</span> <span class="R~sep~ACopyEditors~sep~endnote">www.pcisecuritystandards.org; www.fas.org/sgp/crs.</span>

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<span style="font-size: 8pt;" class="R~sep~ACopyEditors~sep~endnote">The I</span><span style="font-size: 8pt;" class="R~sep~ACopyEditors~sep~endnote">nform</span><span style="font-size: 8pt;" class="R~sep~ACopyEditors~sep~endnote">er answers questions from rea</span><span style="font-size: 8pt;" class="R~sep~ACopyEditors~sep~endnote">ders each Sunday, Monday a</span><span style="font-size: 8pt;" class="R~sep~ACopyEditors~sep~endnote">nd Wednesday. It is re</span><span style="font-size: 8pt;" class="R~sep~ACopyEditors~sep~endnote">searched and written by</span> <span style="font-weight: bold; font-size: 8pt;" class="R~sep~ACopyEditors~sep~endnote">Andrew Perzo</span><span style="font-size: 8pt;" class="R~sep~ACopyEditors~sep~endnote">, an</span> <span style="font-style: italic; font-size: 8pt;" class="R~sep~ACopyEditors~sep~endnote">American Press</span> <span style="font-size: 8pt;" class="R~sep~ACopyEditors~sep~endnote">staff wri</span><span style="font-size: 8pt;" class="R~sep~ACopyEditors~sep~endnote">ter. To ask a question, call</span> <span style="font-size: 8pt;" class="R~sep~ACopyEditors~sep~endnote">494-409</span><span style="font-size: 8pt;" class="R~sep~ACopyEditors~sep~endnote">8 and leave voice mail, or ema</span><span style="font-size: 8pt;" class="R~sep~ACopyEditors~sep~endnote">il informer@americanpress.com.</span>