EMVCo publishes new guidance on using FIDO Authentication with EMV® 3-D Secure to reduce fraud and friction in the payment process for consumers

Global technical body EMVCo has published a white paper which provides guidance to merchants, card issuers, acquirers and processors on how FIDO Authentication Data can be used in EMV^® 3-D Secure (3DS) messages to reduce fraud and friction in the payment process for consumers.

EMV^® 3DS is a payment messaging protocol that enables consumers to authenticate themselves with their card issuer when making e-commerce purchases. The ‘Use of FIDO Data in 3DS Messages’ white paper focuses specifically on EMV^® payment use cases to demonstrate how FIDO Authentication Data can be leveraged to attest that merchant-initiated strong consumer authentication has taken place prior to an EMV^® 3DS transaction. This can reduce the need for issuers to authenticate cardholders for every transaction when shopping online and streamline processes for merchants, card issuers, acquirers and processors.

The ‘Use of FIDO Data in 3DS Messages’ white paper focuses on the newly defined FIDO attestation data set. „Using this defined data set, merchants can deliver a structured set of data elements and present the card issuer with a consistent set of values for the same user or device (along with other data they would receive as part of an EMV^® 3DS transaction), reducing the need for repeated consumer authentication”, according to the press release.

The white paper is an output of an ongoing collaboration between EMVCo and FIDO Alliance, focused on evaluating how FIDO Authentication standards can support EMV^® payment use cases to help reduce fraud globally, while maintaining and optimising the consumer experience. This includes efforts to define how EMV^® 3DS messages may be used to pass FIDO authenticator attestation data.

“Outlining exactly how the data can be used by card issuers to analyse merchant-initiated FIDO Authentication as part of their risk evaluations, can increase authorisation approval rates, streamline online checkout and reduce fraud,” comments Junya Tanaka, Chair of the EMVCo Executive Committee. “Analysing the use of FIDO data in EMV^® 3DS transactions is just the first step in the joint work efforts between EMVCo and FIDO Alliance, and we look forward to continued collaboration to enable consistency, convenience and additional security for EMV^® payment use cases and beyond.”

“This paper, as well as FIDO Alliance’s complementary technical note, provides essential information on how FIDO can be used alongside EMV^® 3DS to provide higher levels of security, enhanced user experiences, and better overall approval rates for e-commerce merchants,” said Christina Hulka, Executive Director and COO of the FIDO Alliance. “These papers are part of our longstanding relationship with EMVCo and our shared focus on providing answers to the questions we often receive on how our FIDO Alliance standards and EMVCo specifications can work together.”