What Is 3D Secure?

So, while removing all possibility of fraud isn’t a reality yet in the world of online payments, there are options available to protect your business.

One of these options is 3D Secure, offered worldwide by major card networks like Visa, MasterCard, and AMEX, branded as Visa Secure, MasterCard SecureCode, and AMEX SafeKey.

How To Stay Safe With 3D Secure

How do you know the person entering card information at your checkout isn’t using a stolen card? If the payment is fraudulent and you end up shipping merchandise, your business would be set back if the actual cardholder initiates a chargeback through their bank. A chargeback is a transaction reversal where the funds get returned to the cardholder.

3D Secure verifies that the person submitting the payment is the true owner of the credit card being used, typically by asking them for a secure PIN. The cardholder is redirected to a verification page on their bank’s website to complete the authentication.

Completing this verification reduces the likelihood of chargebacks and improves your chance of successful disputes if chargebacks do occur. For a qualified transaction, the liability for a chargeback could also shift to the credit card company.

Improve Your Approval Rate

While online shopping, 62% of cardholders will abandon a cart after a decline.

3D Secure can increase your approval rate through the multiple data points it sends to card issuers, which gives more information to authenticate consumers at the time of purchase.

The latest version of 3D Secure also addresses the problem of false declines, when the issuer declines a legitimate transaction by mistakenly suspecting fraud.

The Next Generation Of 3D Secure

There are two versions: 3D Secure 1.0 and 2.0.

Since the first version of 3D Secure debuted almost 20 years ago, card networks have modernized fraud prevention even further. The new 3D Secure 2.0 optimizes for mobile and increases the number of data points shared with card issuers. For consumers, the process is also a more seamless experience, keeping them on the checkout page without being redirected. The amount of information being sent to the bank eliminates the need for the consumer to manually verify themselves.

3D Secure is a great way to protect your business from fraud and to attract security-conscious consumers. To learn more about 3D Secure, and how to enable it for your business, contact a payment provider.

If you use Worldline or are curious about 3D Secure, please reference our 3D Secure developer documentation to implement it on your website.