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Risk & disputes

3-D Secure / Strong Customer Authentication (SCA)

A set of authentication flows where the issuer challenges the customer (e.g., SMS, app push, biometrics) before approving a transaction.

When this matters
  • You operate in SCA-regulated markets (EU/UK and similar regimes).
  • You are balancing fraud/chargeback risk against conversion.
  • You are designing exemption strategies with your PSP or orchestration layer.
Operator tips
  • Agree on a clear responsibility model: who decides when to apply 3DS vs an exemption.
  • Measure the full funnel: challenge rate, completion rate, and post-3DS auth rate.
  • Document how different flows (one-off, subscription, marketplace) map to SCA rules.
How to use this term

Use this definition when you are aligning stakeholders across product, engineering, finance, and operations. Shared vocabulary makes it much easier to argue about tradeoffs without talking past each other.

For deeper context, pair this term with the free assessment and providers/methods directories. They give you a concrete view of how concepts show up in real stacks.