3DS2: Liability shift and disputes

Zai Payments offers 3D Secure version 2 (3DS2) on online card payments. One of the main benefits of 3DS2 is the liability shift for fraud-related chargebacks. This article explains how it works and where its limits are.

New to 3DS2? Start with 3DS2: Overview and getting started.

What is the liability shift?

When a transaction is successfully authenticated with 3DS2, liability for fraud-related chargebacks (where the cardholder says they did not make the payment) generally moves from the merchant to the card issuer (the cardholder's bank).

What does the liability shift not cover?

It does not cover non-fraud disputes, such as:

• Goods or services not received

• Goods not as described

• Duplicate processing

• Cancelled recurring payments

• Credit not processed

You still need to respond to these disputes with evidence as before.

Does every 3DS2 outcome give me the liability shift?

No. The liability shift applies when the cardholder's bank successfully authenticates the transaction. This is the case whether the bank authenticated it in the background (frictionless) or after challenging the cardholder. A frictionless authentication gives you the same protection as a challenged one.

Transactions that are not successfully authenticated do not qualify. This includes cases where authentication failed, was rejected by the bank, or could not be completed. For more on these outcomes, see 3DS2: Understanding payment outcomes. The exact conditions are set by the card schemes (Visa, Mastercard, and American Express), and may vary between schemes and change over time.

Need help? Contact Zai Technical Support at support@zaipayments.com. To help us investigate quickly, see what to include in 3DS2: Getting the best results and support.