3D secure payments

3D Secure is a new technical standard developed by Visa and MasterCard to further secure credit card payments over the internet. MasterCard brand their system as "MasterCard SecureCode" and Visa call theirs "Verified by Visa". Both Maestro and Solo now also support 3D secure

From a customers point of view 3D secure works as follows. The customer must register for the service with their card provider, the registration will involve supplying a password (or SecureCode™) and a personal greeting. Both these pieces of information are only known by the customer and the card provider.

During a 3D secure enabled payment the customer will be redirected to their card providers website and will be asked to authenticate the transaction with their password (or SecureCode™). Before submitting the password, the customer can check that the card providers website is authentic because they will be presented with their personal greeting.