Stripe SCA - Frequently asked questions


What is SCA?

Strong Customer Authentication. It’s a requirement of the EU Revised Directive on Payment Services on payment service providers within the European Economic Area. The SCA requirement comes into force from 14 September 2019.

All customer facing card payments, will be subject to 
SCA safeguards.


What changes to payment functionality should we expect for ResDiary users?

Internally there will be no changes for users.


What changes to payment functionality should we diners expect when making a booking?

Customers may be asked by their card holder to further validate their identity when making the payment, known as 3D secure 2.


Is this specific to Stripe and ResDiary?

No. It will be consistent across all merchants.


When will ResDiary have SCA in place?

It’s already in place. SCA functionality was released to all diaries in August 2019.


When will diners have to start validating their information?

This hasn’t been confirmed yet. Also, not every person or transaction will need to provide further validation.


Will tokenisation still be available?


Yes, but customers may have to authenticate their card.


How long are card details stored in Stripe? 

Stripe have stated that tokenization details will be held indefinitely however, the bank can choose to reject a charge at any point. 


Will we still be able to charge cards?

Yes. However, we believe that the longer a card is stored, it will become more likely that the bank will ask for reauthorisation. As it is unlikely people who no-show will reauthorise their transactions, this money will probably be lost. 


What should we do when banks reject a charge?

This process won’t change and you’ll need to contact the customer in regards to this.


When will this be effective?

The original date was 14th September 2019. However, most national regulators have announced a delay and we are still awaiting confirmation of this date for the UK and other territories. Individual banks may also choose to start applying it whenever they want anyway, so we’ll be ready by the 14th of September regardless of delays


Will there be any change to functionality for diner landing page?

There will be no change to the actual functionality, however the User Interface (look and layout) will change slightly.

 


Will ResDiary users have to ask their customers to provide further validation?


No - When the venue collects/charges a card it's seen as a merchant initiated transaction which is specifically exempted from the SCA regulations


Can I customise the look?

Unfortunately not, this is controlled by the banks and each bank may operate this differently.


When a bank rejects a card how will the error message display on ResDiary?

It is likely that there will be little change to how it is displayed currently. However, there might be also be a message that the bank requires 3DS2. How this will show is currently unconfirmed.