INSIGHT

Ready for the FCA two-factor authentication deadline?

The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) extended deadline for mandatory two-factor strong consumer authentication (SCA) for higher-value electronic payments is 14th September 2021.

The new rules, which are intended to enhance the security of payments and limit fraud during the authentication process, mean a customer will need to authenticate electronic purchases of £100 or more (based on the March 2021 Budget increased contactless payment limit) or five consecutive payments totalling £100. Most frequently, authentication will be by a passcode sent to the customer’s mobile phone or by a biometric check.

As the lockdown ends, an increasing number of electronic purchases will be out of home. Businesses will therefore need to check and ensure mobile coverage for all major networks is available, where required, to enable customers to complete transactions requiring SCA and to enable payment apps for lower value transactions.

Where mobile coverage is an issue in a building, Pan RF can design and install a Pan RF Cell HUB Distributed Antenna System (DAS) to legally capture, boost and repeat external signals from any or all of the Mobile Network Operators inside the building to achieve effective coverage and enable, frustration-free FCA compliant SCA transactions.

References:

https://www.fca.org.uk/firms/strong-customer-authentication