3-D Secure Verified by Visa & MasterCard SecureCode

What is 3-D Secure, Verified by Visa or MasterCard SecureCode?

Created by the card payments industry, 3-D Secure is a security feature which ensures that payments using certain credit and debit cards are authenticated by the card holder with their bank at the time of the transaction. 3-D Secure is the common name for the technology behind MasterCard SecureCode (MSC) and Verified by Visa (VbV).

If your customer's card is enrolled with 3-D Secure, during the payment flow they will be prompted by their bank to enter a password to verify that the transaction is authorised by the card owner before completion.

This extra layer of protection has been added to further protect your business from chargebacks. Verified by Visa and MasterCard SecureCode rules shift liability for certain chargebacks from your business to the cardholder's bank, should the cardholder later claim the transaction is unauthorised.

Who does this affect?

Currently it is only mandatory for any merchant wishing to accept Maestro cards.

How do I offer 3-D Secure to my customers?

For PayPal Website Payments Standard, PayPoint Lite, Moneybookers iFrame your payment gateway provider will offer 3-D Secure to your customers.

For PayPal Website Payments Pro this would need to be offered by yourselve the merchant through our 3-D Secure partners Cardinal Commerce. Please contact us for more details.

What happens if I do not offer 3-D Secure?

Due to MasterCard compliance requirements you will not be able to process Maestro cards online.  All other card types are not currently affected by this change although it is recommend to offer this for all cards enrolled in the 3-D Secure scheme.

It is also likely you will have a higher rate of checkout abandons and lost custom for your products or services due to consumers having a lower level of confidence their transaction with yourselves is secure.