Payment transaction volume using 3-D Secure protocol grows globally

RSA has published its latest quarterly fraud report, reinforcing the migration to more precise payment authentication methods and showing a notable spike in brand abuse attacks. The report features insights from Q4 and full year 2020 data collected while authenticating consumer transactions and investigating threats.

Mostly notably, payment transaction volume using the 3-D Secure protocol grew more than 73% globally, while 2.x transaction volume grew 26 times in the Americas alone. The significant growth in 3-D Secure transaction volume is attributed to merchants of all sizes transforming to a digital-first business, combined with a more accurate payment authentication method supporting mobile-first shopping experiences.

“Throughout 2020, the pandemic drove nearly every consumer-facing organization to aggressively scale their online shopping presence,” said Armen Najarian, CMO of the RSA Anti-Fraud Business Unit.

“This transformation set the stage to deliver modern and precise payment authentication experiences that stop fraud while not disrupting good customers. It’s no surprise that our own data showed a 73% increase in global 3-D Secure transaction volume and a 26-fold increase in 2.x transactions in the Americas alone.”

Other notable insights

• Visibility into more than 195,000 global cyber attacks
• Brand abuse attacks volume share doubling from 14% in 2019 to 27% of all attacks in 2020
• Phishing-based threats representing 42% of all attacks
• Confirmed fraudulent payment transactions increased by 8%, while the value of fraudulent chargeback transactions increased by 94%
• Mobile vs web transaction share increase of 43% in Q4 alone, year over year

Najarian continued, “Our latest data confirms a significant shift in the global fraud attack mix, with 27% now classified as brand abuse and 42% as phishing-related attacks. These vicious attacks can devastate businesses, both financially and reputationally, by eroding consumer trust.

“The latest trends should serve as a call to action for all fraud prevention and risk management leaders to extend their prevention strategies to account for these increased threats.”