UK online shoppers face more identity checks as new anti-fraud rules kick in
Online shoppers in the UK can expect more identity checks – and probably more card-declined messages – over the coming weeks, as retailers get ready for new anti-fraud rules that come into force on 14 March.
Buyers have already started seeing more requests to verify their ID as payments providers and retailers adopt the new strong customer authentication (SCA) rules.
Under the changes, before a retailer can accept an electronic (online) payment it will have to verify that the customer is who they claim to be. The measures are similar to those already faced by people logging into online banking.
While most low-value retail purchases will go ahead as before, with checks carried out in the background, shoppers buying more expensive items online will have to input a password, a pin or a one-time-passcode they have been sent via a text or landline, or log into their banking app and approve the purchase.
The rules, which have been introduced by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), were supposed to come into force a year ago but were delayed to give retailers more time to adapt. The legislation came out of the European Banking Authority, and was adopted into UK law before Brexit.
It will apply to debit and credit card purchases, and will have the biggest impact on those making what are deemed to be the riskiest purchases. The new rules do not apply if you buy something over the phone.
High-value purchases, or those outside a buyer’s normal spending habits or transacted on a previously unused device, are likely to prompt the extra security check.
Mastercard says it expects about 25% of online transactions to require some form of extra verification by the customer after 14 March. Until now, only 1% of online purchases triggered the
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