3-D Secure Issuer Service - securing online payment, authenticating cardholders for banks – setting industry benchmark

As e-commerce grows, the industry focuses on optimizing conversion rates and a seamless experience. At the same time, fraud increases and demands intelligent prevention systems. The Netcetera 3-D Secure Issuer Service authenticates cardholders on behalf of over 800 banks and card issuers during online payments, providing high availability while meeting all regulative requirements, a user-friendly and accessible authentication journey and risk-based measures to avoid user actions. The 3-D Secure is a global standard specified by EMVCo®, increasing the security of credit and debit card payments when online shopping. It is designed to reduce the risk of fraud and loss of payments due to card fraud. Netcetera operates a PCI DSS-and PCI 3DS-certified 3-D Secure Issuer Service with 99,9 % Service Availability that meets the highest security standards, including all requirements and certifications of EMVCo®, American Express®, Diners Discover, JCB, Mastercard®, Union Pay and Visa. For the latest EMV 3DS 2.3.1 protocol, Netcetera was certified first worldwide, proving its market leadership and introducing new trends and benefits for cardholders as early as possible. Since 2021, when the PSD2 regulation mandated SCA for the EEA to enhance payment security, cardholders have had to authenticate online payments with two factors. The Netcetera 3-D Secure Issuer Service, PSD2-compliant, enables banks to achieve a frictionless rate of up to 50%, maintaining fraud rates below thresholds. This translates to active cardholder interaction required only in every second payment transaction. When cardholders need to authenticate, a screen in the merchant’s shop leads them through the authentication processes of their banks. The Netcetera 3-D Secure Issuer Service provides this challenge screen. The submission emphasizes the redesigned core of the screen and explores innovative authentication methods, such as WebAuthn, for online payments.

Generally speaking, a bank "only" needs a provider offering a certified Access Control Server that performs a compliant 3-D Secure transaction and authenticates specific cardholders. In that regard, the Netcetera 3-D Secure Issuer Service is a market-leader, high-quality product offering the best service and focusing on multiple personas: Business Owner: • Increase authentication success rates up to >90 % via risk-based and smart authentication solutions • fulfilling all regulative requirements and offering labour-saving additional services such as the mandatory PSD2 audit • readiness for all upcoming requirements like the new challenge screens to the European Accessibility Act requirements enforced in 2025 Fraud Manager: • Reduction of fraud and fraud costs by introducing additional features preventing, e.g. Phishing Fraud • Tools for fine-tuning rules & simulation decreasing the number of false positives and keeping the decline rate for cardholders to a minimum Cardholder: • Experience an undisturbed payment process through the optimal usage of exemptions from SCA • Accessible authentication journey including all users meeting the Web Content Accessibility Standard AA standard (AAA where possible) The modular managed service is flexibly expandable, highly configurable and ensures short development cycles. As EMVCo Technical Associates, we influence strategic developments and are the first to implement new trends like Secure Payment Confirmation (using WebAuthn in 3-D Secure - please watch the product video). The Netcetera 3-D Secure Issuer Service is used by over 800 banks worldwide and is valued for its reliability, protecting over 100 million cards.

Besides offering a regulative compliant product, we invested in 2 innovations benefitting our clients’ cardholders: Live: new challenge screens having a massive immediate impact on more than 500k e-commerce transactions per day processed by our product Pilot phase: Secure Payment Authentication (based on WebAutn) as the authentication method of the future (please watch the video demonstrating how you can authenticate a payment using your fingerprint on your laptop) Pilot Phase: Testing age verification using credit cards to access restricted web content securely and privately. Collaborating with industry partners to explore the EMV 3DS protocol as a convenient and secure option for age verification. This initiative aims to create a safer online environment for younger generations and align with upcoming laws in the US, UK, and France.

We focused on enhancing 3DS Challenge Screens, which we presented at EMVCo and W3C, sharing best practices globally. Our redesigned screens align with EMV 3DS 2.3.1 protocol, prioritize accessibility, overcome usability obstacles, and adhere to the latest UX/UI standards. Rooted in user-centred design, we addressed cardholder pain points through extensive research. By emphasizing Control, Familiarity, Efficiency, and Design Quality, we aim to instil comfort and trust. Our commitment to accessibility ensures inclusivity and meets WCAG standards. https://www.w3.org/WAI/standards-guidelines/wcag/ Redesigned styles feature optimal colour combinations, improved content structure, and enhanced typography for better readability. Innovative features like autofill on touchscreen devices enhance user experience.

https://www.w3.org/WAI/standards-guidelines/wcag/

Desktop: https://youtu.be/G_m1d-aLioo; https://youtu.be/AvDbp9UxxPw; https://youtu.be/g4hYMzRUJL4

Mobile: https://youtube.com/shorts/hP-HkxvwWQc?feature=share; https://youtube.com/shorts/YH6EU6Ko_As?feature=share; https://youtube.com/shorts/7Br1BJ0Tat0?feature=share

Erste Bank, Austria– the largest financial services provider in CE Europe. https://www.netcetera.com/stories/news/erste-bank-3-d-secure-case-study.html https://info.netcetera.com/l/859863/2023-11-07/4x2c3b/859863/16993635912leUag6m/Netcetera_Erste_Bank_case_study.pdf

Making use of all the possibilities the Netcetera solution provides, Erste Bank has managed to achieve the same frictionless rate as before the PSD2 was introduced (above 50% of the transactions) while improving the overall success rate by 5% (92% of the transactions vs 87% before the usage of the package). With Netcetera’s solution, Erste Bank exceeded the industry average of a 35% reduction in fraud events.

“Our work with Netcetera is not just about reducing the number of challenges but delivering a convenient challenge experience to our customers”, confirms Graf-Marschallek, Head of Card Service & Fraud Management Cards, Erste Bank.

As a result, where challenges are required, they are now faster and easier to navigate –which has improved cardholder confidence in the authentication process. Erste Bank cards now experience an abandonment rate lower than 5% compared to Austria’s 8% and Germany’s 9,5%.

• https://www.netcetera.com/payments/Issuing/3DS-Issuing-Service.html • https://www.netcetera.com/stories/news/20220110-EML-ACS.html • https://www.netcetera.com/stories/news/Balancing-between-security-and-customer-experience.html • https://www.netcetera.com/stories/news/Netcetera-acs-first-worldwide-certified-with-latest-emv-3ds-protocol.html • https://www.netcetera.com/stories/news/the-evolution-of-payments-interview.html • https://www.netcetera.com/stories/news/SumUp-and-Netcetera-team-up-on-ACS.html • https://www.netcetera.com/stories/expertise/emv-3ds-new-opportunities.html • https://www.netcetera.com/company/track-record.html

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