Introduction

The purpose of this EMV® 3-D Secure White Paper (White Paper) is to promote a better understanding of certain EMV 3-D Secure (3DS) features and provide example use cases that highlight their benefits.

The 3DS protocol is a security measure designed to provide an additional layer of protection for online transactions and to reduce the risk of fraud in e-commerce transactions.

This document describes the two primary 3DS flows: the Frictionless Flow, and the Challenge Flow. It also includes sections dedicated to specific transactions or technical features, such as Recurring and Instalment Transactions, Out-of-Band (OOB) Authentication, 3DS Message Extensions, and the Split-SDK, along with example use cases.
In addition, the 3DS Documentation section provides an overview and list of relevant 3DS documents.

The use cases presented in this White Paper are not exhaustive and other use cases may exist. This White Paper does not describe the practical implementation of any specific use case, and such implementations may vary by 3DS Programme.

This White Paper accompanies and complements the EMV 3-D Secure Protocol and Core Functions Specification and supporting documentation. Where additional relevant information on a given subject is available in any of these documents, references to specific sections in the documents are provided to avoid duplication.

This White Paper applies to the protocol versions for which testing support is available at the time of release of this document, and highlights the differences that may exist between those versions for certain features.
 

The contents of this dynamic version of the White Paper correspond to the contents of the PDF version of the White Paper, published in March 2025.