EMV 3DS Payments Resource Brief
EMV® 3-D Secure Mini-Series

As adoption of EMV® 3-D Secure (EMV 3DS) continues to grow, new opportunities and challenges are emerging across the payments ecosystem. While full-length projects are often needed to explore these complexities in depth, the U.S. Payments Forum has developed this mini-series to deliver concise, actionable guidance on less commonly discussed use cases and pressing implementation issues.

Through this series, industry stakeholders can quickly gain insights to inform decision-making, enhance fraud prevention strategies, and improve customer experience in digital transactions. Four briefs will be published in total — three are available now.

Brief #1: EMV 3DS Fundamentals and Use Cases

The first brief introduces the core domains of EMV 3DS and its role in reducing e-commerce fraud. It highlights key benefits for merchants and issuers, explores common use cases, and examines adoption challenges such as system complexity and cardholder friction. This overview provides the foundation for understanding how EMV 3DS supports secure, streamlined digital commerce.

Published May 2025

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Brief #2: EMV 3DS Data Only Mode

The second brief examines Data Only Mode — an EMV 3DS variation that enables merchants to share enriched transaction data with issuers without prompting cardholder authentication. By relying on risk-based analysis, Data Only Mode reduces friction in checkout, minimizes false declines, and helps increase approval rates.

Key insights include:

  • How Data Only transactions differ from standard EMV 3DS
  • Benefits such as reduced cart abandonment, improved authorization rates, and enhanced fraud detection
  • Considerations for merchant adoption, processing requirements, and liability implications

This brief is essential for merchants and issuers seeking to balance fraud prevention with seamless customer experience.

Published August 2025

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Brief #3: EMV 3DS Requestor-Initiated (3RI) Authentication

The third brief explores Requestor-Initiated (3RI) authentication, also known as merchant-initiated authentication, which enables merchants to authenticate transactions without direct customer interaction. This approach is particularly valuable for recurring payments, installment transactions, delayed shipments, stored credentials, and other merchant-initiated use cases.

The brief outlines:

  • Common 3RI use cases, including recurring, installment, top-up, and card-on-file transactions
  • How 3RI supports fraud mitigation and regulatory alignment
  • Liability shift considerations when authentication is successful
  • Operational efficiencies and potential conversion benefits
  • Implementation challenges, including technical integration and customer communication

3RI represents a significant advancement in enabling secure authentication for transactions where the cardholder is not actively present — balancing risk management, compliance, and customer experience.

Published February 2026

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Coming Soon

The fourth and final brief in the EMV 3DS Mini-Series will explore advanced EMV 3DS products and emerging use cases, highlighting how the technology continues to evolve to support new payment models, risk strategies, and digital commerce innovations.

Please note: The information and materials available on this web page (“Information”) is provided solely for convenience and does not constitute legal or technical advice. All representations or warranties, express or implied, are expressly disclaimed, including without limitation, implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose and all warranties regarding accuracy, completeness, adequacy, results, title and non-infringement. All Information is limited to the scenarios, stakeholders and other matters specified, and should be considered in light of applicable laws, regulations, industry rules and requirements, facts, circumstances and other relevant factors. None of the Information should be interpreted or construed to require or promote the establishment of any solution, practice, configuration, rule, requirement or specification inconsistent with applicable legal requirements, any of which requirements may change over time. The U.S. Payments Forum assumes no responsibility to support, maintain or update the Information, regardless of any such change. Use of or reliance on the Information is at the user’s sole risk, and users are strongly encouraged to consult with their respective payment networks, acquirers, processors, vendors and appropriately qualified technical and legal experts prior to all implementation decisions.

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