Strong Customer Authentication (SCA)

The new European regulation, the Payment Services Directive (PSD2), dictates that Consumer-initiated electronic transactions require Strong Customer Authentication. For online Card payments, this means that transactions need to be authenticated via 3D Secure (or equivalent*). This regulation came into force on 14th September 2019. Depending on how merchants manage their payments today, the new rules on SCA could have a noticeable impact on the way they process payments, but also the payment journey consumers will face. To be prepared, Merchants need to know the following:

3D Secure authentication (or equivalent) for online Card payments will be required. Nets eCommerce platforms are SCA-compliant, Issuers are responsible for SCA and may decline unauthenticated transactions in the future.

For transactions that are either Merchant Initiated or Recurring; they will need to be flagged correctly in the Authorisation message. This may require updates to your PSP/Gateway APIs – you will be advised where required.

Card issuers are becoming better at streamlining consumer authentication and the move to a newer 3D Secure version will improve this further.

The exact implementation steps and options available to you as a merchant depends on which Nets platform you are using. It is important that you refer to PSP platform guidance material to ensure you’re set up for 3D Secure correctly.

NB: Nets eCommerce platforms are ready with 3D Secure to help you meet authentication requirements