Why You Shouldn’t Give Your ZIP Code at the Register

Incentives for Merchants

Visa supports the Address Verification Service (AVS) system, which allows merchants to compare a Visa cardholder’s billing address with the card issuer. In Visa’s “Card-Not-Present Merchant Guide to Greater Fraud Control,” it states that merchants who use the AVS system benefit in a number of ways, including the possibility of lowered transaction fees. This guide, by the way, was designed for Internet transactions, but brick-and-mortar retailers also use the system as a way to catch fraud.

So there’s the financial incentive for merchants. It’s not a big stretch to assume that once they’ve got your ZIP code, they can figure out your address and put you on their mailing list. Targeted marketing doesn’t get much better than this. You’re already a customer and now they can notify you of sales and new items to lure you back to the store.

I’m not one to get bent out of shape over unwanted mail. Isn’t that what trash cans are for? You can tackle the junk mail part of this problem by going to the Direct Marketing Association’s Mail Preference Service and opting out of most mail solicitations.

The issue here shouldn’t be about the inconvenience of getting junk mail. My main concern is what a store employee can do with my credit card number plus my ZIP code. The real issue is this: Giving your ZIP code to a cashier might increase your risk of identity theft.

So the next time a cashier asks for your ZIP code, you can politely refuse. The retailer still has to honor your credit card and complete the sale. There’s simply no reason to risk giving away information that makes it easier for someone to steal your identity.