The Financials: 3D Secure Payments

Protect your payments from chargebacks by enabling 3D Secure for your connected Stripe account!

What is 3D Secure?

For extra fraud protection, 3D Secure requires customers to complete an additional verification step with the card issuer when paying. Typically that means that, when processing a payment, clients will be prompted to enter a password associated with the card or a code sent to their phone. 

Payments that have been successfully authenticated using 3D Secure are covered by a liability shift. Should a 3D Secure payment be disputed as fraudulent by the cardholder, the liability shifts from you to the card issuer.

Read more about liability shift: Stripe Support Center Article

How do I enable 3D Secure?

Start by logging into your connected Stripe account and then follow these steps:

  • Click 'Settings' at the bottom of the left-side main menu.
  • Within the Settings, looks for the area titled 'Radar'

Note: 'Radar' is a premium tool from Stripe; however, the 3D Secure settings located within it are free to all Stripe users.

  • Within the 'Radar' area, click the 'Rules' option to access the 3D Secure rules.

Note: There are three main sections of the 'Rules' page, and you're welcome to adjust any of the settings, but this article is going to focus solely on how you can enable 3D Secure payments and none of the other options.

  • The first section of the rules will cover the 3D Secure options. There are three options for when 3D Secure can be enabled:
    • Required: This option will be enabled by default, and it will activate the 3D Secure processor for any card that requires it. This is typically controlled by card issuers in compliance with various regional laws.
    • Recommended: This option will activate the 3D Secure processor for any card that meets automated risk-assessment factors. That means it will trigger the 3D Secure processor if Stripe thinks it needs to due to potential risk for fraud or dispute.
    • Supported: This option will activate the 3D Secure processor for any card that supports it, meaning that it will be enabled whenever possible, regardless of necessity. 
  • To enable any of these rules, click the three dots on the right of the rule and select 'Enable...'
  • You may need to confirm the change in a pop-up window. Select 'Enable' in the resulting window to confirm your changes!