Note that authentication services are currently available only for Visa, Maestro and MasterCard products. Also note that different conditions apply to commercial cards, as shown in the tables below.
Traditionally, merchants have been liable for e-commerce chargebacks due to fraud. Authentication brings the benefits of liability shift.
Liability shift means that the liability for the chargeback loss shifts from the merchant to the issuing bank, for e-commerce transactions that are deemed fraudulent (those transactions where the cardholder has denied involvement in the transaction). The issuing bank, in most cases, is no longer allowed to pass such chargebacks back to the merchant.
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Note that authentication services are currently available only for Visa, Maestro and MasterCard products. Also note that different conditions apply to commercial cards, as shown in the tables below. |
From the date you are enabled for authentication you are no longer responsible for certain fraudulent chargebacks when a cardholder denies they made the purchase. As a result you should see a reduction in the number of fraud-related chargebacks.
Liability shift is dependent on various factors, such as the type of card (personal or commercial), the authentication result as well as card issuing and merchant countries. For example, with transactions involving personal cards Visa and MasterCard offer global protection for non-enrolled cardholders/issuing banks.
The tables below show the eligibility of liability shift on a regional basis for both personal and commercial cardholders. Note the following points about the column headed "authentication result" in the tables, for details please also refer to Managing and Interpreting your Authentication Results:
Cardholder Authenticated - you may no longer be liable for chargebacks if a cardholder claims they did not make the purchase. The issuing bank becomes responsible for the chargeback for Visa, MasterCard and Maestro.
Cardholder/Issuing Bank not Enrolled for Authentication - because full enrolment is not yet universal, Visa and MasterCard offer you global protection for personal cards where authentication has been attempted even if the issuing bank is not participating or the cardholder is not enrolled. Maestro offers protection for personal cards in the UK.
Cardholder Authentication not available - Visa does not offer protection against fraud-related chargebacks.
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Note that even if a transaction meets the criteria, the issuing banks can still chargeback for other reasons, such as non-delivery of goods or faulty goods. |
The following table shows the eligibility of liability shift for transactions involving personal cards on a regional basis.
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* MasterCard - if the merchant is domiciled in the US and the card is issued by a US issuer, then the Cardholder Not Enrolled liability shift does not apply. |
The following table shows the eligibility of liability shift for transactions involving commercial/corporate cards on a regional basis. Commercial cards include corporate, business or purchasing cards.
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* MasterCard - if the merchant is domiciled in the US and the card is issued by a US issuer, then the Cardholder Not Enrolled liability shift does not apply. |
