What is Verified by Visa & 3D Secure? Should Your Business Use It?

What is verified by Visa? 

You might have seen the term “Visa” appear when you are paying for something online. If you want to learn more about Verified by Visa and 3D Secure, continue reading, as we explain what these terms mean and why they are present when making online transactions. 

In other words, Verified by Visa ensures that online transactions may only be performed by customers who are the primary owner of the card in hand. The reason that Visa implements this type of security is to decrease the risk for merchants accepting online payments.

While the definition seems simple, its inner workings are complex. Here is everything you need to know about 3D secure and Verified by Visa and what these entail for online business owners. 

What is Verified by Visa and 3D Secure?

What is Verified by Visa (VbV)?

VbV, or Verified by Visa, is designed to secure online purchases while decreasing the fraud rate. Like MasterCard SecureCode, VbV has an additional layer of protection in the form of verification through a password that is provided only to actual owners of the Visa account during online purchases. 

One might wonder whether this statement is 100% true or not. Is VbV’s verification process the same for all Visa cardholders?

No! To stay ahead of online scams, Verified by Visa strives to achieve a high level of security. However, achieving this level of security does not imply using the same security verification method for each card. 

A user’s shopping experience is directly related to the distributor of their Visa card and the online security protocols the merchant’s business follows. 

For instance, an online shopper may be required to put in a PIN every time they shop at a particular store with a Visa card. On the other hand, another shopper with a Visa card won’t be prompted to put in a PIN and will have a seamless checkout experience. 

For the second shopper, the VbV completes a risk assessment on data in the background to make sure the order is valid. This difference in the shopper’s experience is because of the two different versions of VbV and the participation levels of banks that issue these cards.

The new protocol, 3D Secure 2.0, is another factor that sets apart this variance in experiences. 

What is 3D Secure 2.0?

To understand this, you must first understand what 3D Secure is. 3D Secure offers protective layers to Visa cardholders during online shopping to protect them from scams. Visa rolled out 3D Secure 2.0 back in 2017. 

This was a massive improvement from the 3D Secure 1.0 version, which required password authentication and signup before using the Visa card for transactions. However, the first version had several problems. 

The 3D Secure 1.0 version displayed an annoying pop-up window that made customers insecure and alert for scams. Plus, the mobile browsers couldn’t handle and display this window correctly. 

With the new 2.0 update, these issues were resolved. Moreover, fraudulent activities were reduced and  payment options became more secure. Instead of PIN protection, Visa introduced biometric and token-based authentication processes in 3D Secure 2.0.

Looking at it from a customer’s perspective, linking chip cards, mobile applications, adding payment methods, and much more became smooth and seamless. Instead of facing the annoying pop-up, browser-based card-not-present window, transaction authentications became more mobile-friendly. 

This end-to-end security and smooth performance is a major step to reducing and preventing online fraud. 

Should Your Business Consider Using Verified by Visa?

Visa rolled out Verified by Visa and 3D Secure 2.0 for online eCommerce businesses and merchants. If you have an online eCommerce business where you sell goods or services, you can consider using Verified by Visa and 3D secure technologies for secure transactions. 

Ways Verified by Visa will Benefit Your Business?

Identity theft and financial fraud cost billions in losses every year for merchants and financial institutions. This threat has become more prevalent with the rise of social media platforms and online activities, giving way to hackers and scammers. 

If you have an online eCommerce business, it is best to protect it while providing a smooth customer experience and 3D security protocols. Here are a few ways that VbV can benefit your business:

• Enhancing the security protocols by adding an extra security layer for online transactions 
• Reducing the chargeback numbers filed with merchants
• Identifying fraud transactions right before they are authorized
• Transferring the liability for fraudulent transactions from your business to the issuer
• Lowering interchange fees for qualifying purchases
• Enhancing customer experience and confidence while shopping at your online store
• Endorsing larger, authenticated purchases

These advantages clearly show that using Visa cards will not harm your business. Rather, it offers a diverse range of advantages. However, this does not mean that VbV is without flaws.

Disadvantages of Verified by Visa

The benefits mentioned above of Verified by Visa may be more than a handful. However, they aren’t 100% guaranteed. It is best to learn what adding an additional security step to the checkout process could mean for your business. 

While Visa does claim that the customer won’t require special software to download, making the checkout process easier, it seems over-hyped and overstated. Consider the 3D Secure 1.0’s history of authentication and display problems and 2.0’s requirement of keeping the mobile device near to shop online. 

Even though these requirements can be a hassle for customers while shopping online, removing every hindrance from the shopping experience may compromise security. However, the public now understands, accepts, and appreciates these authentication processes and what benefits they provide to them and online businesses. 

How Can You Use Verified by Visa Technology for Your Online Business?

Merchants like you can use Verified by Visa for protection and representation on your behalf during chargeback disputes resulting from fraud, stolen credit cards, identity theft, and other cyber frauds. 

Verified by Visa is integrated into your online website’s checkout process. The VbV process works in the background to verify the Visa cardholder’s identity as soon as the customer checks out or presses the confirm button. 

If needed, VbV would prompt the user to provide further verification through an additional verification task. This could include entering an OTP, biometric verification, entering a passcode, etc. 

When this is done, the transaction will be completed successfully. 

What Can You Expect from Verified by Visa?

Visa provides backing and representation to online merchants during chargebacks, shifting the liability from you to the card issuer. Other ways VbV 3D secure service helps merchants include:

• Providing customers and merchants with the confidence that the transactions carried are secure
• Identifying and catching fraud transactions before authorization
• Lowering the customer cart abandonment rate
• Providing interchange optimization by lowering interchange fee

Conclusion

Reading our detailed overview on Verified by Visa and 3D Secure, you should now confidently understand how VbV will benefit your online business. VbV is one great choice offering online merchants and their businesses 3D Secure technology to protect the business valiantly from fraud. It is now up to you to choose whether you wish to fully utilize VbV to benefit your business with its fraud prevention technology.