Card security code: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 11:08, 25 June 2025

Revision as of 02:19, 21 August 2025

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{{redirect|CVC2|the airport in Ontario, Canada|Voyageur Channel Water Aerodrome}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2020}}

[[file:CVC2SampleVisaNew.png|thumb|The card security code is located on the back of [[Mastercard]], [[Visa Inc.|Visa]], [[Discover Card|Discover]], [[Diners Club]], and [[JCB (credit card company)|JCB]] credit or debit cards and is typically a separate group of three digits to the right of the signature strip]]

[[file:CIDSampleAmex.png|thumb|On [[American Express]] cards, the card security code is a printed, not embossed, group of four digits on the front towards the right]]

A '''card security code''' ('''CSC'''; also known as '''CVC''', '''CVV''', or [[#Naming|several other names]]) is a series of numbers that, in addition to the [[bank card number]], is printed (but not [[Paper embossing|embossed]]) on a [[credit card|credit]] or [[debit card]]. The CSC is used as a security feature for [[card not present transaction]]s, where a [[personal identification number]] (PIN) cannot be manually entered by the cardholder (as they would during [[payment terminal|point-of-sale]] or card present transactions). It was instituted to reduce the incidence of [[credit card fraud]]. Unlike the card number, the CSC is deliberately not embossed, so that it is not read when using a mechanical [[credit card imprinter]] which will only pick up embossed numbers.