VbV & 3DS is a PIN that cardholders use to verify the legitimacy of online transactions, similar to a PIN that is used with debit cards. This program helps *BOTH* the customer and the merchant; it protects the consumer by reducing fraudulent transactions, and at the same time protects merchants from fraud related chargebacks.
Why use VbV & 3DS?
The main problem that merchants face when accepting credit card payments online is protecting themselves from fraudulent chargebacks, whether truly fraudulent or “friendly fraud.” Fraudulent transactions are when a customer’s card data has been stolen, and the purchase is not legitimate. Friendly fraud is when a customer fully knows that they purchased the service/product, but is trying to take advantage of the chargeback rules, which are set to favor the customer over the merchant. This is especially a problem with merchants selling digital products online such as software downloads, eBooks, and even traditional products or services sold in a card not present environment. Merchants that have disputed chargebacks in the past, know that the “burden of proof” lies with the merchant to prove that a transaction is valid, if not, the burden of repaying the chargeback lies with the merchant as well.
Two of the most common chargeback codes a merchant will see, are Fraud codes, mainly “Fraudulent Transaction” or “Cardholder Does Not Recognize.” To issue a chargeback for these reasons, a customer simply calls their card issuing bank and claims they did not make the purchase, and it is then up to the merchant to prove that the transaction was not fraudulent. The problem with this is, even a customer who knowingly purchased your service, can still process a chargeback for these reasons in a “card not present” environment, and, in most cases, the merchant will lose these chargebacks without additional documentation to verify the sale, i.e. a signed order form or signature delivery, which obviously isn’t practical for many online transactions.
What VbV and 3DS provide is a way for the merchant to “block” Fraud type chargebacks. By simply providing your customer the option to use VbV & 3DS, you will protect 65-70% of your transactions from Fraud type chargebacks. Visa will block the customer’s ability to initiate a chargeback for Fraud type reasons, whether or not the customer (a) enrolls in VbV or (b) uses their VbV PIN password. As long as you offer VbV to the customer, your transaction is protected. MasterCard will protect the transaction against Fraud chargebacks only if the customer enrolls in 3DS.
How does VbV & 3DS work?
VbV & 3DS is integrated through our gateway, using either API or Secure Hosted Buy Page integration. There are no “pop-ups” or etc…there is simply an additional screen during the checkout process, asking the client to either (a) enroll in VbV or 3DS or (b) to enter in their existing PIN. Then our secure gateway communicates directly with Visa & MasterCard to process the transaction.
Features and Benefits:
- Enable safer, more secure eCommerce transactions
- Increased customer retention and loyalty (see Visa's case studies)
- Higher conversion rates for your customers- turning 'browsers' into 'buyers'
- Offers merchants state-of-the-art chargeback security
Protected Transactions:
- Guaranteed payment of full authentications (When PIN is entered)
- Guaranteed payment on attempted authentications (When cardholder is not enrolled)
- All domestic Visa transactions
- All international Master Card transactions
- Chargeback blocking (liability shift from merchant to issuing bank)
- Dramatically reduce fraud screening costs
Protected Chargeback Reason Codes:
Visa USA:
Credit & Debit Cards - Authentication & Attempts
___________________________________________________
23: Invalid Travel & Entertainment
61: Fraudulent Mail/Telephone/Ecommerce Transaction
75: Cardholder does not recognize transactions
83: Fraudulent Mail/Telephone/Ecommerce Transaction
MasterCard International:
Credit & Debit Authentication
___________________________________________________
4837: Cardholder non-authorization
4863: Cardholder not recognized
You can read more about VbV and SecureCode fraud protection directly from Visa & MasterCard at the links below, the specific reason codes we have listed may change over time, Visa & MC determine the codes protected, not Durango:
Verified by Visa:
http://usa.visa.com/merchants/risk_management/vbv.html
MasterCard SecureCode:
http://www.mastercard.com/us/merchant/solutions/mastercard_securecode.html
Contact us today with any questions and to enroll!
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