3D Secure (3DS) is an authentication protocol that adds an extra layer of security to online payments.

When a customer initiates a payment, 3DS requires them to complete an additional authentication step with their card issuer. This typically involves directing the customer to their bank’s website, where they enter a password or a code sent to their phone to verify the payment. This added layer of authentication helps protect your business from fraudulent transactions and ensures that payments are more secure.

3D Secure 2 (3DS2) is an updated and highly secure authentication protocol that is designed specifically to meet the Strong Customer Authentication (SCA) requirements for online payments.

Benefits

When it comes to fraudulent chargebacks (for example, chargeback claim due to lost or stolen card), the responsibility typically shifts from the merchant to the card issuer once the payment is successfully authenticated with 3DS.

This means that if the payment was made with 3D Secure and the cardholder disputes the payment as fraudulent, you will not be liable for any losses. Instead, the card issuer will be responsible for refunding the cardholder and any associated fees.

3DS 2 Flows

3DS2 provides an enhanced user experience by embedding the authentication process seamlessly within your checkout flow, improving upon the original 3DS protocol.

During the payment process, 3DS2 allows the merchant and payment provider to send data elements, including the customer’s shipping address, device ID, and payment history, to the cardholder’s bank. This information is used to assess the risk level of the transaction, all of which takes place in the background, within your web or mobile checkout flow.

Based on this data, the customer’s bank will either immediately authenticate the payment (frictionless flow), or request additional information before authenticating the payment (challenge flow).

Payment with 3DS

The 3-D Secure authentication protocol follows a three-domain model, in which the Acquirer Domain and Issuer Domain are linked by the Interoperability Domain. The primary objective of this model is to authenticate a cardholder during an e-commerce transaction or provide identity verification and account confirmation.

This protocol applies to customers who shop online at merchants with online stores that comply with 3D-Secure guidelines. For further information, please visit: https://www.emvco.com/emv-technologies/3d-secure/.

The flow begins with a standard authorization or purchase flow, where the initial response to the POST /{id}/card/purchase request indicates that 3D-Secure authentication is required. This indication is provided in the form of a paymentStatus: “Partial,” followed by a new complex element called “actionResponse.”

3D-Secure authentications may occur automatically and seamlessly (frictionless flow) or require explicit authentication by the customer on their issuer’s platform (challenge flow).

How it works

To perform a payment with 3DS authorization, first create an order as detailed in the API Integration guide.

Then, you may proceed to Make the Payment.

Note that you should add the DeviceInfo to the request message:

Data Element	Type	Condition	Description
deviceInfo	DeviceInfo	Mandatory	Object that defines the customer device information.
browserAcceptHeader	String	Optional	Browser Accept Header.
browserJavaEnabled	String	Optional	Browser Java Enabled.
browserJavascriptEnabled	String	Optional	Browser Javascript Enabled.
browserLanguage	String	Optional	browser Language.
browserColorDepth	String	Optional	browser Color Depth.
browserScreenHeight	String	Optional	browser Screen Height.
browserScreenWidth	String	Optional	browser Screen Width.
browserTZ	String	Optional	Browser Time Zone.
browserUserAgent	String	Optional	Browser User Agent.
systemFamily	String	Optional	System Family.
systemVersion	String	Optional	System Version.
systemArchitecture	String	Optional	System Architecture.
deviceManufacturer	String	Optional	Device Manufacturer.
deviceModel	String	Optional	Device Model.
deviceID	String	Optional	Device Unique Identification.
applicationName	String	Optional	Application Name.
applicationVersion	String	Optional	Application Version.
geoLocalization	String	Optional	Geolocation.
ipAddress	String	Optional	IP Address.

Here you can check an example request:

{
    "info": {
        "deviceInfo": {
            "browserAcceptHeader": "application/json, text/plain, */*",
            "browserJavaEnabled": "false",
            "browserLanguage": "en",
            "browserColorDepth": "24",
            "browserScreenHeight": "1080",
            "browserScreenWidth": "1920",
            "browserTZ": "-60",
            "browserUserAgent": "Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; WOW64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/106.0.0.0 Safari/537.36",
            "geoLocalization": "Lat: 38.7350528 | Long: -9.2143616",
            "systemFamily": "Windows",
            "systemVersion": "Windows",
            "deviceID": "498bfd4c3a3645b38667a7037b616c18",
            "applicationName": "Chrome",
            "applicationVersion": "106"
        },
        "customerInfo": [
            {
                "key": "customerName",
                "value": "Diogo M"
            },
            {
                "key": "customerEmail",
                "value": "{{CustomerEmail}}"
            }
        ]
    },
    "cardInfo": {
        "PAN": "{{MC3DSCardNum}}",
        "secureCode": "{{MC3DSCardCVV}}",
        "validationDate": "{{MC3DSCardExpiry}}",
        "cardholderName": "TKN {{trxDatetime}}",
        "createToken": true
    }
}

You will receive a response comprising a paymentStatus in the message. It informs whether the transaction was accepted, declined, still pending a final result, or requires additional action.

• Success: The purchase has been processed successfully and the customer has been debited.
• Declined: The purchase has been declined.
• Pending: The final result of the purchase is not yet known. You will need to inquiry on the status of this transaction until it reaches a final state, or you decide to cancel it.
• Partial: The purchase is partially accepted, but requires additional actions to the completed (e.g. 3D Secure authentication). The actionResponse element is provided for instructions on how to proceed.

If the PaymentStatus received is “Partial”, it indicates that an additional request for 3DS authentication (Challenge Flow) needs to be POSTed, before resubmitting the Card payment request.

The response will also include an actionResponse element with information on how to proceed, as shown in the example below.

Save the actionResponse.id to use in the resubmission of the payment request once the 3DS authentication terminates.

Here’s a full response example with the action response included:

{
    "transactionID": "2Cm5pP09QcP1pUq7WpPs",
    "execution": {
        "startTime": "2023-06-20T13:10:55.328Z",
        "endTime": "2023-06-20T13:10:57.484Z"
    },
    "paymentStatus": "Partial",
    "actionResponse": {
        "id": "b114d9a9-4d6b-4ff8-ab95-be4e11cc8235",
        "type": "THREEDS_CHALLENGE",
        "data": {
            "url": "https://api-aws.sibs.ro/sandbox/sibs/public/acsSample",
            "params": [
                {
                    "name": "creq",
                    "data": "eyJ0aHJlZURTU2VydmVyVHJhbnNJRCI6ImIxMTRkOWE5LTRkNmItNGZmOC1hYjk1LWJlNGUxMWNjODIzNSIsImFjc1RyYW5zSUQiMS4wIiwiY2hhbGxlbmdlV2luZG93U2l6ZSI6IjAxIn0="
                }
            ]
        }
    },
    "returnStatus": {
        "statusCode": "000",
        "statusMsg": "Partial",
        "statusDescription": "Partial"
    }
}

Then, you must perform three additional three actions:

Action 1: Redirect the cardholder to the ACS for 3DS Authentication

Action 2: Resubmit the Transaction for final authorization

Action 3: Perform a Get Status

Action 1: Redirect the cardholder to the ACS for 3DS Authentication

The customer’s browser must be redirected via POST to the 3DS Access Control Server (ACS) URL indicated by actionResponse.data.url using the actionResponse.data.params as request parameters.

The cardholder’s browser is redirected back to your origin once the authentication is finished.

Javascript example of redirection to ACS

POST "https://api-aws.sibs.ro/sandbox/sibs/public/acsSample"

creq: eyJ0aHJlZURTU(...)

Action 2: Resubmit the Transaction for final authorization

You will have to In this purchase request, add the actionProcessed object as shown below:

Data Element	Type	Condition	Description
actionProcessed	ActionProcessed	Optional
id	String	Mandatory
type	String	Mandatory	Possible values are “THREEDS_METHOD”, “THREEDS_CHALLENGE”, “DCC”, “INSTALLMENTS”
executed	Boolean	Mandatory

Request example:

Request URL:

https://stargate-cer.qly.site1.sibs.pt/api/v1/payments/{transactionID}/card/purchase

Request Headers:

Authorization: ‘Digest <transactionSignature>’
X-IBM-Client-Id: ‘<ClientId>’
Content-Type: application/json

{
    "info": {
        "deviceInfo": {
            "browserAcceptHeader": "application/json, text/plain, */*",
            "browserJavaEnabled": "false",
            "browserLanguage": "en",
            "browserColorDepth": "24",
            "browserScreenHeight": "1080",
            "browserScreenWidth": "1920",
            "browserTZ": "-60",
            "browserUserAgent": "Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; WOW64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/106.0.0.0 Safari/537.36",
            "geoLocalization": "Lat: 38.7350528 | Long: -9.2143616",
            "systemFamily": "Windows",
            "systemVersion": "Windows",
            "deviceID": "498bfd4c3a3645b38667a7037b616c18",
            "applicationName": "Chrome",
            "applicationVersion": "106"
        },
        "customerInfo": [
            {
                "key": "customerName",
                "value": "Diogo M"
            },
            {
                "key": "customerEmail",
                "value": "{{CustomerEmail}}"
            }
        ]
    },
    "cardInfo": {
        "PAN": "{{MC3DSCardNum}}",
        "secureCode": "{{MC3DSCardCVV}}",
        "validationDate": "{{MC3DSCardExpiry}}",
        "cardholderName": "TKN {{trxDatetime}}",
        "createToken": true
    },
    "actionProcessed": {
    "id": "{{actionId}}",
    "type": "THREEDS_CHALLENGE",
    "executed": true
    }
}

Expected response:

As we’ve seen before, the paymentStatus in the response informs on whether the transaction itself was declined, processed successfully, or requires yet another action.

A successful technical response comprises of an HTTP-200 status and a returnStatus.statusCode=”000″.

If the payment status is ‘Partial’, proceed as before from Action 1.

Here’s an example of a successful payment:

{
    "transactionID": "2Cm5pP09QcP1pUq7WpPs",
    "execution": {
        "startTime": "2023-06-20T13:11:14.236Z",
        "endTime": "2023-06-20T13:11:17.535Z"
    },
    "paymentStatus": "Success",
    "returnStatus": {
        "statusCode": "000",
        "statusMsg": "Success",
        "statusDescription": "Success"
    },
    "actionResponse": {
        "data": {
            "params": []
        }
    }
}

Action 3: Perform a Get Status

After the payment has been fully processed, you can check the status of your transaction by sending a GET request.

Ensure that the Authorization HTTP header is set to the same Bearer token that was used in the initial payment Order.

Request URL:

https://stargate-cer.qly.site1.sibs.pt/api/v1/payments/{transactionID}/status

Request Headers:

Authorization: ‘Bearer <AuthToken>’
X-IBM-Client-Id: ‘<ClientId>’

A successful technical response comprises of an HTTP-200 status and a returnStatus.statusCode=”000″.

Here are some examples of the possible result codes:

Result code	statusMsg	Description	Action
HTTP-200	Success	Success response.	n/a.
HTTP-400	Bad Request	The JSON payload is not matching the API definition or some mandatory HTTP headers are missing.	Please check in API Market for the correct syntax.
HTTP-401	Unauthorized	On the Authorization, Bearer token is invalid/expired or not associated with the Terminal used.	Please check in SIBS Backoffice under the Credentials if the token is valid and create a new one if needed.
HTTP-403	Forbidden	The ClientID set on the X-IBM-Client-Id HTTP header is not valid or does not possess a valid subscription to the API.	Please check in SIBS Backoffice under the SPG APP 2.0 if the ClientID is correct. If the problem persists contact SIBS Gateway support for a ClientID reset.
HTTP-405	Method Not Allowed	The HTTP Method used is not matching any of the API definitions available.	Please check in API Market for the correct HTTP Method.
HTTP-429	Too Many Requests	The API calls rate limit has been exceeded.	Please check in API Market for information on the rate limits that apply to the API.
HTTP-500	Internal Server Error	The API call has failed… and its most likely on our side.	You should retry the operation, and if the problem persists contact SIBS Gateway support for assistance.
HTTP-503	Service Unavailable	The API call is not currently available. Usually we are always on, but short availability issues may occur during scheduled maintenance.	You should wait and try again later.

Here’s a response example:

{
    "merchant": {
        "terminalId": "101774",
        "merchantTransactionId": "Order Id: r7cxvi0saj"
    },
    "transactionID": "2Cm5pP09QcP1pUq7WpPs",
    "amount": {
        "currency": "PLN",
        "value": "50.50"
    },
    "paymentType": "PURS",
    "paymentStatus": "Success",
    "paymentMethod": "CARD",
    "execution": {
        "endTime": "2023-06-20T13:11:23.411Z",
        "startTime": "2023-06-20T13:11:23.327Z"
    },
    "returnStatus": {
        "statusCode": "000",
        "statusMsg": "Success",
        "statusDescription": "Success"
    }
}