To help support SCA requirements, Cybersource’s 3-D Secure (3DS) authentication solution is being integrated with Amadeus’ payment platform.
3DS includes significant enhancements.
3DS includes significant enhancements that lay the foundation for travel merchants and their banking partners to support SCA, without sacrificing a quick and simple payments experience.
The European Central Bank estimates Europe suffers from €1.3 Billion1 in online card fraud each year. That’s why the Payment Services Directive 2 (PSD2) and the Regulatory Technical Standards (RTS) mandate what is known as Strong Customer Authentication (SCA). This will introduce two-factor authentication for most electronic payments made in the European Economic Area (EEA). Against this backdrop, Amadeus has collaborated with Cybersource, Visa’s payment management platform, to offer the global travel industry a range of advanced fraud and payment management capabilities.
Preparing for Strong Customer Authentication
From the outset, this collaboration will help travel merchants prepare for SCA, reduce fraud risk, and minimize the potential impact on customer experience with the introduction of two-factor authentication.
The RTS stipulate that, for the majority of electronic payment transactions within the EEA, the payer will need to prove their identity using at least two of the below techniques:
- Something the payer knows (e.g. PIN)
- Something the payer has (e.g. SIM card or mobile device)
- Something the payer is (e.g. fingerprint)
To help support SCA requirements, Cybersource’s 3-D Secure (3DS) authentication solution is being integrated with Amadeus’ payment platform. 3DS includes significant enhancements that lay the foundation for travel merchants and their banking partners to support SCA, without sacrificing a quick and simple payments experience. Specifically, 3DS means:
- Travel merchants and banks involved in payments can exchange significantly more data, which supports improved risk assessments. This can help to reduce instances where travelers are asked to practice two-factor authentication, meaning less payment friction
- Native support for ‘in-app’ authentication on mobile devices (coming with 3DS)
- Ability to request specific exemptions included in the SCA requirements (coming)
Justin Fraser, Head of Cybersource Europe, commented: “The travel industry, like so many, is facing a new era shaped by new technology and regulation. This is coupled with the changing demands of consumers, who are expecting to interact and transact with ease. It’s critical to offer a seamless payment experience, while meeting new regulatory requirements and delivering effective authentication and fraud management. Travel merchants that have the right technology in place will be in a stronger position to optimize exemptions under SCA, manage fraud, and ultimately deliver on traveler expectations for simple and secure travel payments.”
Bart Tompkins, Managing Director, Payments, Amadeus, added: “In a world where payments are increasingly mobile and travelers expect to pay with a single click, it’s essential merchants keep the overall experience in mind when implementing SCA.” He continued: “By working closely with the Cybersource team, we have committed to delivering the benefits of the new 3DS protocol across our solutions and the wider travel ecosystem—laying the foundation for simple and efficient two-factor authentication by harnessing innovations such as biometrics.”
The bigger picture
As part of Amadeus Payments’ offering, a range of Cybersource’s payment, fraud and authentication management solutions will be made available to the worldwide travel ecosystem.
Appropriate fraud screening helps provide travel merchants with the confidence to pursue various exemptions under SCA, putting them in a stronger competitive position. Cybersource fraud management capabilities are backed by machine learning insights from billions of Visa and Cybersource transactions annually, for greater accuracy and early detection of fraud—as well as consumer authentication services by CardinalCommerce.
Notes to the editors:
About Amadeus
Travel powers progress. Amadeus powers travel. Amadeus’ solutions connect travelers to the journeys they want through travel agents, search engines, tour operators, airlines, airports, hotels, cars and railways.
We have developed our technology in partnership with the travel industry for over 30 years. We combine a deep understanding of how people travel with the ability to design and deliver the most complex, trusted, critical systems our customers need. We help connect over 1.6 billion people a year to local travel providers in over 160 countries.
We are one company, with 16,000 employees across 70 offices. We have a global mindset and a local presence wherever our customers need us.
Our purpose is to shape the future of travel. We are passionate in our pursuit of better technology that makes better journeys.
Amadeus is an IBEX 35 company, listed on the Spanish Stock Exchange under AMS.MC.
To find out more about Amadeus, visit www.amadeus.com.
1 ecb.europa.eu
From the original press release:
Agreement equips the global travel ecosystem with the capability to deliver Strong Customer Authentication and protect against fraud, without compromising on payment experience.
Combines Cybersource’s payment, authentication and fraud management capabilities, backed by more data and advanced machine learning.
During the 2019 World Financial Symposium (WFS), the 3rd Annual IATA Global Fraud Prevention Conference took place having Cybersource as the Principal Sponsor.
The event brought together global airlines, travel agents and OTAs, card schemes and service providers from all regions. The 2-day event had 60+ airlines in attendance and addressed key challenges, opportunities and shaping of tomorrow’s solutions in payment fraud prevention bringing also great opportunity to engage with global industry leaders and influencers.
During the event, Fernando Souza, VP - Global Travel & Transit Solutions at Cybersource gave a session called ‘Attaining Global Travel Success: Framework for Global Payments’. Fernando shared how travel businesses can attain success on global payments in a rapidly changing digital world. He discussed a framework where acquirer selection, local payment methods, fraud management, data & analytics and regulation are foundational pillars for international expansion. He included how critical these pillars are for airlines to optimize sales, maximize the number of genuine bookings & deliver the best customer experience.
Cybersource partner, Amadeus, joined the session on stage. Adnan Beig, Head of Payment Products Strategy for Amadeus shared how airlines can deploy Strong Consumer Authentication (SCA) to comply with PSD2 regulation without creating friction to travelers. Amadeus explained how regulation & client experience can come together under SCA recommending travel businesses implement at least one authentication solution as soon as possible. Whether using a legacy 3DS 1.0 solution or the new 3DS solution provided by Amadeus and Cybersource, powered by Cardinal Commerce.
The session had great engagement and many questions from the audience.
26 of top 50 global airlines, four of top five global hotels and many other leading travel brands rely on Cybersource and we keep bringing innovative solutions alongside our partners to delight travelers with new digital experiences. Learn more by watching our airline focused webinar, which covers the SCA regulation, SCA travel use cases, the evolution of 3DS and Amadeus’ new 3DS service, which is backed by Cybersource.
Visit: Amadeus, Cardinal Commerce