Payment Services Directive (PSD2)

New payment legislation, known as the Payment Services Directive (PSD2), is designed to make online card payments more secure and harder for fraudsters to access your card details.

As part of this new legislation and to help protect our cardholders against increasingly sophisticated online fraud, we’re adding more security checks for online payments. This means, we’ll need to be able to confirm it’s you making the payment which we’ll do by:

  • sending you an SMS; or
  • using Touch ID or Face ID via a Coutts Mobile app.

It’s therefore important that we hold your current mobile phone number - if we don’t, please call Coutts 24 on 020 7957 2424. And, if you’ve not yet registered for Coutts Mobile and would like to be able to use our new biometric authentication when it’s introduced, then please call us on 020 7770 0000 and we’ll set you up.
 

Strong Customer Authentication (SCA)

New regulation is being introduced to improve online payment security and help reduce fraud and scams. As a result, you’ll be asked more regularly to confirm it’s you making a payment when you're:

  • shopping online
  • making contactless payments.

SCA, also known as Two Factor Authentication (2FA), is based on needing to meet two or more of the following requirements:

  • Knowledge: something only you know, for example a password or PIN.
  • Possession: something only you have, for example a mobile phone.
  • Inherence: something unique to you, for example your fingerprint.

Please remember that we’ll never contact you to ask for your PIN, full password, One Time Passcodes or to move your money to another account. Only a fraudster will ask you for this. And only ever give out your personal or financial details if you’re using a service and expecting that service provider to contact you.


Click here to see our frequently asked questions about SCA.


Biometric authentication

If you’re a private current account holder and registered for our mobile app, you’ll be able to benefit from our new biometric authentication technology which is being introduced later this summer and will enable you to confirm your identify with Face ID, your fingerprint or your passcode when you make an online transaction.
 

Click here to see our frequently asked questions about biometric authentication.


Make sure we can get in touch

To make sure we can get in touch with you and send you any passcodes that are required to verify your online payments, you’ll need to make sure we have your correct details (we’ll also need up to date contact details for any additional cardholders registered on your card account who aren’t clients).

If you’re registered for our digital services, you can do this via Coutts Online. If not, please get in touch with Coutts 24 on 020 7957 2424 who’ll be able to update these details for you.


Strong Customer Authentication (SCA) FAQs
  

  • Can I opt out of SCA?

    No, you can’t opt out of SCA. This is because SCA is part of new Europe-wide legislation (the revised Payment Services Directive, or PSD2). The new regulations will apply to all payments in Europe, not just those processed by us.

  • Will SCA be used for every online transaction?

    No, not every transaction – it will depend on various factors like the size of the transaction and the potential for fraud. These will be applied automatically.

  • Will it be harder for me to shop online?

    It’ll take a little longer to complete the additional security and when it’s done you’ll be able to complete your transaction. It's a relatively small extra step when making an online purchase but will be a huge step in helping combat fraud as it’ll make it much harder for fraudsters to make purchases using your card details.

  • What if I don't have a mobile phone?

    You can choose to receive a One Time Passcode by email, or you can call Coutts 24 who’ll be able to help you with your transaction.

  • What if I don’t have a UK mobile number

    If you’re making payments to a retailer within Europe, please contact Coutts 24 who’ll be able to help you with your transaction.


Biometric Authentication FAQs