For online pharmacy businesses, data security is an essential bedrock that is vital in fostering credibility and customer trust. Visa, Mastercard, and other card member associations continue to focus on constantly making innovations and updates designed to keep cardholder data safe from identity thieves and other fraudsters. 

One of the most compelling of these is an XML-based protocol known as 3-D Secure that enhances the information exchanges between acquiring and issuing banks, furnishing an extra layer of transaction protection.

What is 3-D Secure?

The protocol, originally created in a collaboration between Mastercard and Visa, goes by several names, including Verified by Visa and Mastercard Secure. The 3-D abbreviation refers to three distinct domains: the card issuers, the retailers who accept payments, and the card infrastructure that facilitates the process. 

In essence, the purpose of 3-D Secure is to give enhanced security to payment transactions by acting to validate that the process is occurring at the request of the rightful owner of the account.

To a large degree, this system of additional checks occurs because of the data that is exchanged during authentication. 

The issuing bank has access to details about the customer’s past buying history, shipping location, and device type that it can compare with current data, making it possible to spot potential red flags and act upon them preemptively before a purchase can even be authorized.

How does 3-D Secure work?

3-D Secure payments begin when a customer enters their credit card information into your gateway from their smartphone or computer. 

The customer may then encounter a 3-D Secure page that asks them to enter a PIN or password that is often sent to their smartphone via SMS or text message. An encrypted electronic dialogue then begins between your system, the acquiring bank, and the issuing bank to verify the customer’s identity, providing a payment acceptance or declination within seconds. The customer is then notified about their payment status.

Advantages of 3-D Secure.

When you add 3-D Secure to your online pharmacy’s payments ecosystem, you can look forward to a number of benefits. For one thing, the latest iteration of the protocol allows for fingerprint and face ID authentication that make the process both efficient and familiar for most customers. 

In many cases, the buyer might not even be aware that this extra 3-D Secure layer is providing added data protection.

That’s because extra authentication such as a PIN is only required if the bank detects a possible security risk. With 3-D Secure operating behind the scenes for the most part, the buyer’s shopping experience becomes safer, thereby inspiring trust and often leading to more purchases. 

What’s more, implementing the safe credit card processing that 3-D Secure provides should not be an additional financial burden. A good high-risk payment processor will offer it to you as part of your current package.

Finally, having 3-D Secure in your payments toolkit helps to lower the number of disputed charges you need to contend with during any given week or month. 

This not only improves relationships with buyers but also saves you countless hours in responding to chargebacks. In the most extreme cases, you may even avoid account termination because of these strict authentication measures.

How 3-D Secure can enhance your online pharmacy.

In order for your online pharmaceutical business to succeed, you must be able to earn the trust of customers, many of whom are used to obtaining their medications under the guidance of a familiar pharmacist at an in-person store. 

One hurdle to overcome in accomplishing this has to do with the security and safety of a client’s sensitive product buying history and payment data. The prospect of a criminal hacking into an ecommerce business’s database and gaining possession of these sensitive details is enough to scare many buyers away from online medication providers once and for all.

Demonstrating how your company is committed to data protection is a highly effective way to dispel these legitimate fears. 

By clearly outlining what steps you have taken to safeguard payment transactions and customer details, you can also justify why, from time to time, a buyer might be asked to undergo an additional validation step. 

Once people recognize that these measures exist for their protection, they tend to embrace them and don’t mind the extra minute the process takes.

In addition, most people understand that the strict regulations that pertain to online pharmacies are there for their own benefit. 

The Strong Customer Authentication (SCA) that is built into 3-D Secure is one of the most effective mechanisms available today to detect and prevent fraud and other criminal activity before it can do serious damage to buyers and sellers alike.

Finally, today’s ecommerce customers demand choice when it comes to how they pay, including at online pharmacies. If you fail to furnish them with a diverse set of options at the time of purchase, they may be less likely to put their trust in your business. 

The good news is that 3-D Secure and its added security layers can work with all manner of payment types, including credit and debit cards, e-wallets, mobile digital, and recurring billing.

Online pharmacies must take part in a difficult juggling act whose components include establishing credibility, earning trust, offering a wide selection of high-quality products and services, protecting the confidentiality and integrity of data, complying with regulations and pleasing customers in an extremely competitive marketplace. 

3-D Secure makes it possible for businesses like yours to keep data out of the hands of criminals, often with little or no extra work on the part of customers. Additionally, this protocol helps you to remain in compliance with the host of regulations and best practices that surround ecommerce medication distributors. 

If you are not currently taking advantage of the many benefits that 3-D Secure can bring to your online pharmacy, talk to your high risk payment processor today about incorporating it into your checkout protocols.