In one of our earlier articles, we wrote about the importance of implementing 3D-Secure protection from the online merchant’s perspective. Despite all the objections that can be heard about 3D-Secure, it must be admitted that it is one of the leading ways of protecting both merchants and cardholders themselves from unauthorized use of cards on the internet.
However, we often hear that 3D-Secure is to blame for a lower number of transactions completed at an online point of sale. Generally speaking, such statements are probably not entirely unfounded. Customers complain that paying is inconvenient. They often abandon the purchase because they don’t understand how to complete the payment. All of this, of course, really hurts merchants, who watch customers abandon payment for goods they have already selected. Worst of all, merchants are often blamed by customers for needlessly complicating the payment process, even though merchants have very little influence on the process itself.
But before we start drawing conclusions about who is to blame and who isn’t, perhaps it is best to try to explain what 3D-Secure actually is, why it was introduced, how it is used, and finally to see how local card-issuing banks implement 3D-Secure.
Pay Securely Online – with 3-D Secure
3-D Secure is a security standard for online payments. With 3-D Secure, cardholders must identify themselves as authorized users of the card. The obligation to identify before paying makes e-commerce significantly more secure. If you see the “Verified by Visa”, “MasterCard SecureCode” or “American Express SafeKey” logo on an online store, it means that the online store has implemented 3-D Secure protection and that paying there is certainly more secure.
Verified by Visa
Verified by Visa is a service that protects cardholders from unauthorized use of VISA cards. Cardholder authentication through Verified by Visa involves two simple steps:
- First, the cardholder sees a personal message that only the genuine cardholder and their bank know. This way, the cardholder knows that the screen displayed to them is truly authentic.
- The cardholder is then asked to enter their password.
MasterCard SecureCode
MasterCard SecureCode® is a personal code (password) of the MasterCard cardholder. This password is used when shopping online. Only the cardholder and their bank know the password. Merchants do not know the password and cannot see it. This achieves verification of every individual payment transaction. When paying with a registered card, after the card details are entered, a screen requesting the password will appear.
Seems Simple?
… it should be. However, it isn’t always. Simplicity depends above all on the communication between the bank that issued the card and its cardholders. Namely, different banks have different methods for creating this one-time password. Some banks use modern methods of sending an SMS message to the cardholder’s registered phone number. Others, however, require the password to be generated on a special device provided by the bank.
Experience tells us that cardholders are often not even familiar with the payment procedure, and sometimes they are not even aware that their card is registered for 3D-Secure. The level of communication between banks and their clients on this matter is often unsatisfactory. Instead of being informed when collecting the card that it is registered for 3D-Secure and having the payment procedure explained to them, cardholders are often left to educate themselves on their own initiative.
… And What Now?
To help customers – cardholders, we tried to find explanations for using 3D-Secure cards on the websites of some of the leading card issuers in Serbia. Let’s go in order.
Banca Intesa
Banca Intesa has provided all its users of Visa Inspire payment cards, as well as MasterCard payment cards enrolled in 3D Secure, with the highest level of protection for online purchases using the additional identification programs MasterCard SecureCode and Verified by VISA. By introducing this functionality, Banca Intesa has enabled clients to pay securely online with the help of a 3D Secure password and to protect themselves from potential misuse of card data. This password is created using special card readers that can be obtained at some Banca Intesa branches.
Komercijalna Banka
Pay securely online with the MasterCard® SecureCode™ and Verified by VISA programs. This service is available for all cards issued by Komercijalna banka, except for DinaCard program cards, Visa Electron and Visa Gift cards.
Raiffeisen Bank
The 3D Secure service provides you with additional protection against unauthorized use of your registered payment card during an online transaction. With a single registration, secure online payments can be made with all types of cards issued by Raiffeisen Bank: debit and credit cards for individuals, entrepreneurs and legal entities, except for Visa Virtuon and Visa POKLON cards.
Telenor Banka
Telenor Banka also offers the SecureCode service based on the 3D Secure standard. All Telenor Banka cards will be automatically enrolled in the program. The service is used without any special software.
Erste Bank
Verified by VISA is activated during the first purchase from an online merchant that supports the Verified by VISA payment system. MasterCard SecureCode is a free service for secure online shopping with MasterCard and Maestro cards. When making a purchase, you confirm your identity to the Bank with your personal password – similar to using a PIN at an ATM.
AIK Banka
AIK Banka offers a new, free service – 3D Secure, which provides additional security when shopping online with MasterCard and Visa cards on web portals that participate in the MasterCard SecureCode and/or Verified by Visa program. The service is used without any special software.