Visa’s CyberSource and Amadeus Partner to Secure Travel Payments

Amadeus has announced it has collaborated with CyberSource, Visa’s payment management platform, to offer the global travel industry a range of advanced fraud and payment management capabilities.

This collaboration is designed to help travel merchants prepare for the new strong customer authentication (SCA) rules mandated by Payment Services Directive 2 (PSD2) and the Regulatory Technical Standards (RTS). This should reduce fraud risk and minimise 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 European economic area (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) 2 authentication solution is being integrated with Amadeus’ payment platform. 3DS 2 includes enhancements that are designed to lay the foundation for travel merchants and their banking partners to support SCA, without sacrificing a quick and simple payments experience.

Specifically, 3DS 2 means that travel merchants and banks involved in payments can exchange significantly more data, which supports improved risk assessments. This can help to reduce instances where travellers are asked to practice two-factor authentication, meaning less payment friction.

The incoming upgrade, 3DS 2.2, will also include native support for ‘in-app’ authentication on mobile devices and the ability to request specific exemptions included in the SCA requirements.