What is Strong Customer Authentication?
As the world of finance has developed, and the need for more robust security measures has increased, static password systems have become less secure and outdated.
On September 14th 2019, new requirements for authenticating online payments were rolled out in Europe by the European Bank Authority. As part of this, there is a new set of technical standards required for payment authentication known as Strong Customer Authentication (SCA), designed to help reduce fraud and increase security for cardholders.
As of March 14, 2020, VISA is mandating that all issuing banks enable Strong Customer Authentication for all cardholder (member) initiated payments.
How does Strong Customer Authentication work?
When a cardholder (member) makes an online payment under Strong Customer Authentication protocol it generates over 100 data points, which provides the issuing bank with more details as to the validity of the transaction. This data is used by the issuing bank to generate a more accurate risk profile of the payment than a simple password authentication, making the payment more secure.
Only if the transaction is deemed of the highest risk by the issuing bank is the cardholder required to provide further authentication.
If further authentication is required, the cardholder must provide additional validation to process the transaction, which may look something like this:
How does this affect payments processed through Zen Planner?
Only cardholder-initiated transactions will be required to be processed through Strong Customer Authentication. For Zen Planner customers, this means members who make purchases via Member Connect, Member App or Kiosk Mode may be required to provide additional authentication prior to completing an order.
Subscription, recurring and staff-initiated transactions are exempt from Strong Customer Authentication protocol - no additional authentication will be required for these types of transactions.
For questions regarding the European Bank Authority mandate please contact Paysafe at 888-709-8753