Short answers to the questions merchants ask most about 3-D Secure. The longer explanations live in 3-D Secure: what it is and what your customers see and 3-D Secure, chargebacks, and liability shift.
Does it slow down checkout?
For most payments, the customer sees nothing at all: the bank confirms the cardholder in the background and checkout continues as before. When the bank asks for a verification step instead, the customer completes one short step, usually a one-time code, and then continues. The bank decides which of the two happens on each payment.
One change is constant rather than per payment: with 3-D Secure on, Visa requires that customers also provide their cardholder name and email or phone number during checkout, so the payment form collects those through Clover.
Does it cost extra?
Not on the WeeConnectPay side. Your WeeConnectPay per-transaction fee is charged once per successful payment, and it is the same fee whether or not the payment was verified with 3-D Secure. Clover's own payment processing costs are set in your Clover merchant agreement, so Clover is the place to ask about those.
Who turns it on?
You do, and it takes two settings. The first is on your own Clover Dashboard. The second is in your store's WeeConnectPay payment settings, where a WooCommerce store has a toggle named 3-D Secure on the Payments tab that is off until you turn it on. Both have to be on for a payment to be verified. The steps are in Turning on 3-D Secure for your store.
Can I use it on some payments only?
No. Once both settings are on, 3-D Secure applies to every online payment that store sends through WeeConnectPay. There is no per-order or per-amount exception. What you can do is turn the store setting back off, which stops verification for that store without touching your Clover account.
Does it run on the payment link I email a customer?
Yes. On a WooCommerce store the check runs on the checkout page, on the block-based checkout page, and on the customer payment page reached from the Pay for this order link, in all three transaction modes. 3-D Secure: what it is and what your customers see covers the one WooCommerce step that can appear on that page before the payment form.
Which cards does it cover?
American Express, Discover, Mastercard, and Visa. Whether an individual card takes part also depends on the bank that issued it, and a card whose issuer does not take part is processed the usual way.
Which countries does it cover?
The United States and Canada, which are the two countries WeeConnectPay supports.
Does it apply to payments taken in person?
3-D Secure applies to card payments taken online, where the card is not in front of you. Payments taken on a Clover device in person are a different flow and are not affected.
Does verification mean the payment is approved?
No. Verification and approval are two separate steps, in that order. A verified payment still goes to the card issuer for approval, and the issuer can still decline it for an ordinary reason such as insufficient funds.
Is a failed verification the same as a declined card?
No. A failed verification means the customer's bank did not confirm the cardholder, so the payment was stopped before the issuer was ever asked to approve it. A decline means the issuer was asked and refused. Neither takes any money and neither means anything is wrong with your store. The order note names which one happened, and When a customer does not finish 3-D Secure verification shows how to tell them apart and what to tell the customer.
Can I choose whether a customer gets the extra step?
No, and neither can we or Clover. The card issuer decides per payment, from its own risk assessment.
Does it replace my postal code and security code checks?
No, it works alongside them. Those checks keep doing their own job on every payment.
Does it change how my taxes appear in Clover?
Yes, if your tax forwarding mode is Full attribution. A payment verified with 3-D Secure is not eligible for that mode and reports taxes the way Automatic does, so a multi-rate cart such as TPS plus TVQ arrives in Clover as one bunched tax line instead of a named line per rate. Your store's own tax records are unchanged. How WeeConnectPay reports your taxes to Clover covers the modes.
What happens if a customer does not finish the verification?
No money is taken and the order stays unpaid. The details, including what your dashboard shows in each case, are in When a customer does not finish 3-D Secure verification.
Where do I see whether a payment was verified?
Open Transactions on your WeeConnectPay dashboard. A payment that went through 3-D Secure carries a small shield marker, and pointing at it opens a 3D Secure panel with a Validation line and a Liability line.
Am I asked for a one-time code anywhere?
No. The code is sent by the customer's bank to the customer, and it is entered in the bank's own window during checkout. Nobody at your store ever needs it, and no customer should be asked to share it.
Still have a question?
Email support@weeconnectpay.com. If it is about one specific payment, include the order number and the time of the attempt and we will trace what was sent for it.