You need to read up on what AVS actually does : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Address_Verification_System http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Address_Verification_Syst

You need to read up on what AVS actually does : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Address_Verification_System http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Address_Verification_System AVS doesn't work all that well outside the U.S. (Amex declines it outright) And services that do work outside are often value added (read: expensive) and for businesses that primarily cater to U.S. customers, isn't worth the price. AVS isn't just a "bank service". It's only available to merchants that use a gateway that supports it (same for CVV/2) : https://support.mivamerchant.com/supportsuite/index.php?/Knowledgebase/Article/View/223/13/payment-gateways-that-support-avs-cvv2-and-electronic-checkdebit-payment-methods https://support.mivamerchant.com/supportsuite/index.php?/Kno... And of those gateways, some don't support AVS outside mainland U.S. or only partially. Those businesses aren't "losing money" by not catering to you. On the contrary, they're saving quite a bit by focusing on local customers.