What you need to know about 3D Secure

3D Secure is a fraud protection tool that helps keep you safe when you’re making online card purchases. It’s a way of checking that it’s really you trying to make the payment. We’ve used 3D Secure at Starling for quite a while and it forms part of the security of your account as a customer.

From March 2022, in order to keep your money even safer, we’re ramping up the use of 3D Secure, which means you’ll be asked to authenticate online purchases more often.

How does 3D Secure work?

When you’re buying something from a website that uses 3D Secure, a screen may pop up on the merchant’s site, asking you to check your phone to confirm the purchase. On your phone, you’ll see a notification that will take you to the Starling app. If you recognise the retailer and amount, and you’re happy to make the payment, click ‘approve’ and the payment will be processed.

You don’t have to download anything to use 3D Secure and you won’t need a new card - everything happens through the Starling app.

Will I always need to tap to approve a purchase?

No, not always. Some retailers may ask you to enter an online payment code. In this case, you just need to go to the Card screen of your Starling app, and tap ‘Online Card Payment Code’ to get your six-digit security code. To approve the payment, enter the online payment code on the retailer’s website and click ‘continue’ to complete the purchase.

It’s important never to share this online passcode with anyone. It’s also important to know that Starling will never call you and ask you to approve a payment or read out your online payment code.

Not all online card payments require these extra authentication security checks.

Why is this happening?

In line with the Payment Services Regulations, we’re increasing security checks. These regulations are designed to help protect people from fraud when spending online. All banks and all retailers within the UK and most of Europe must follow these laws, and correctly process 3D Secure, to help stop fraudsters.

What should I do if my payment isn’t processed?

If your online card payment doesn’t go through, check that you have sufficient funds in your Starling account and you might want to give the payment another go.

If the payment still doesn’t go through, don’t worry, there’s unlikely to be anything wrong with your card. You can get in touch with the merchant and find out if they use 3D Secure - if they don’t, ask if there’s another way in which you can pay.

As always, we want to keep your money safe - 3D Secure is one of many tools we use to do this.