Why did / didn’t 3D Secure trigger?

Trigger/not trigger request

The request to trigger or not trigger 3DS for a transaction can originate from you or Adyen. 

• You can do this via:
  • The API request
  • Dynamic 3D Secure
• Adyen can do it:
  • Due to regulations, issuer requirements or optimisation . 

Verify who initiated the request

You can check the 3DS section in the Payment Details page for each transaction to determine who initiated the request. The following two parameters would provide an insight:

• Merchant requested 3DS field indicates if 3DS was/ was not requested by you and if so then how. It can have 4 values, namely: 
  • Yes (through Dynamic 3D Secure)
  • Yes (through API parameter 'executeThreeD' or 'attemptAuthentication')
  • No
  • No (through API parameter 'executeThreeD' or 'attemptAuthentication')
• Dynamic 3D Secure field presents the rule / configuration due to which 3DS triggered or not. It can have the following values: 
  • Default rule triggered ('Always 3DS')
  • Default rule triggered ('Prefer not 3DS')
  • Rule ‘[rule name]’ triggered (‘[Always 3DS, Prefer not Challenge OR Always 3DS, Always Challenge OR Prefer not 3DS]’)
  • No rule triggered (API has higher priority)
  • No rule triggered

Note: The API parameter takes precedence over Dynamic 3D Secure settings. So when the API parameter contains either executeThreeD or attemptAuthentication, the Dynamic 3D Secure rules are not evaluated and the value of the parameter is respected.

Following are some examples to clarify how to further interpret these fields together:

Example A: shows that 3DS triggered because Dynamic 3D Secure was set to Always. 

Example B: shows that 3DS triggered because of which custom rule configured on Dynamic 3D Secure settings. 

In case 3DS triggers despite Merchant requested 3DS = ‘No’ and Dynamic 3D Secure = No rule triggered, it might be due to local regulations, optimization from the Authentication model to ensure higher full-funnel conversion, issuer requirement or Strong Customer Authentication(SCA) retry.

Troubleshooting 3DS Trigger Failures

If none of the above scenarios explain why 3D Secure (3DS) did not trigger for a transaction, it can be due to: 

• Missing / incorrect API parameters: Review the API parameters sent in the request to ensure they are correct and complete. Some parameters are mandatory to trigger 3DS. 
• Shopper’s card not enrolled for 3DS 2 services. 
• MID is not enrolled for 3DS. 

For an in depth analysis of why 3D Secure wasn’t applied we need to analyze the logs. Please reach out to Support for further help.