Amadeus-CyberSource deal to boost fraud protection

“The travel industry, like so many, is facing a new era shaped by new technology and regulation. This is coupled with the changing demands of consumers, who are expecting to interact and transact with ease."

Strong Customer Authentication (SCA) is the final instalment of the Payment Services Directive 2 (PSD2), a suite of regulations being introduced across the European Economic Area.

The new rules, which come into force from 14 September, have been designed to tackle fraud by introducing two-factor authentication (2FA) – a method that travellers must use to authenticate themselves by providing security details including a PIN code or a one-time passcode sent to their mobile phone.

CyberSource’s 3-D Secure (3DS) 2 authentication solution is being integrated with Amadeus’s payment platform to help support SCA requirements while reducing payment friction.

Features include the ability for travel merchants and banks to exchange more data that supports risk assessments, native support for ‘in-app’ authentication on mobile devices (coming with 3DS 2.2) and the ability to request specific exemptions included in the SCA requirements.

Justin Fraser, head of enterprise and alliance sales at CyberSource Europe, commented: “The travel industry, like so many, is facing a new era shaped by new technology and regulation. This is coupled with the changing demands of consumers, who are expecting to interact and transact with ease.

“It’s critical to offer a seamless payment experience while meeting new regulatory requirements and delivering effective authentication and fraud management. Travel merchants that have the right technology in place will be in a stronger position to optimise exemptions under SCA, manage fraud, and ultimately deliver on traveller expectations for simple and secure travel payments.”

Bart Tompkins, managing director, payments, Amadeus, added: “In a world where payments are increasingly mobile and travellers expect to pay with a single click, it’s essential merchants keep the overall experience in mind when implementing SCA.

“By working closely with the CyberSource team, we have committed to delivering the benefits of the new 3DS 2 protocol across our solutions and the wider travel ecosystem – laying the foundation for simple and efficient two-factor authentication by harnessing innovations such as biometrics.”