Entersekt

Service Overview

3-D Secure is not a product built by one company. It is a chain: merchant and acquirer to 3DS Server, 3DS Server to the scheme Directory Server, Directory to the issuer ACS, then the result travels back to the merchant. Every link is supplied by a different vendor. The 3DS Server usually comes from a PSP, a gateway or an independent vendor; the Directory Server is run by the card scheme; the ACS is built or bought by the issuing bank. A merchant only touches the 3DS Server directly, or touches it indirectly inside the acquirer or gateway it already uses, while every remaining link is decided by the acquiring bank, the scheme and the issuer. That structure matters because a large share of what people call 3DS experience is not in the merchant's hands: the challenge page, whether a transaction goes frictionless, and what an authentication failure actually means are all determined by whose ACS your issuer runs and how the scheme directory applies its rules.

Entersekt sits upstream in that chain. The company is headquartered in South Africa and positions itself as the Financial Authentication Company, with a platform claim of delivering authentication, payments and risk intelligence on one unified, context-aware foundation. The stack is layered into 5 parts: AI-driven Authentication across all channels and use cases with real-time transaction integrity checks, digital account authentication, 3-D Secure delivered as 3-D Secure ACS, 3-D Secure Server and 3-D Secure Server Directory, Risk intelligence built on global behavioural data, and Authentication Advisor.

The site lists 5 business outcomes: lower fraud cost, better customer experience, higher transaction success rate, lower operating cost and regulatory compliance, and states that customers typically break even in under 6 months. That figure is a vendor claim and has to be read with its premises. Payback speed depends on the size of your existing fraud loss base. If annual fraud losses are modest, any authentication programme takes much longer to repay, and break-even calculations usually count fraud and operational savings while excluding the engineering hours and schedule cost of the change itself. Treat the number as directional, not as a procurement case.

What Entersekt actually sells is not one 3DS server but authentication as a shared cross-channel context. The same identity, device and session signals support online banking login, contact centre verification, in-app actions and 3DS transaction decisions. The practical consequence is real: bank-side identity and device context can push more transactions into the frictionless path, which turns 3DS from a compliance switch into a conversion tool.

The reverse is equally true. If your business has no logged-in state and cannot obtain session or device signals, that context advantage does not materialise and you are buying a conventional 3DS Server. So the first question to answer before evaluating Entersekt is whether you are a bank or licensed institution, or a merchant with a checkout page.

Key Strengths

• Context is reused across channels, not just for 3DS: device fingerprint, login history, behavioural trail and contact centre verification records all feed one decision foundation, and 3DS is only 1 consumer of it. The same data is amortised across 4 channel types, and risk judgement stays consistent instead of becoming strict in banking and loose in payments.
• All 3 3DS roles can be delivered separately: ACS, 3DS Server and Server Directory sit at different points in the chain and are usually supplied by different vendors. Holding all 3 capabilities reduces cross-vendor integration and clarifies responsibility for institutions building their own stack.
• Frictionless ratio is treated as an optimisable metric: the narrative is not more security but lower fraud cost plus higher transaction success. That combination only works with fine-grained signals, because you only dare to send a transaction frictionless when you can separate genuine high risk from a merely new device.
• Passwordless and contact centre entry points differentiate it: many 3DS vendors only decide at the transaction moment, whereas passwordless authentication and contact centre verification establish a trusted identity first and let the 3DS decision inherit it. For banks compressing verification cost, that path pays back more visibly than adding another challenge.
• Risk intelligence draws on global behavioural data: cross-institution behaviour supports real-time context decisions and helps with cross-border and cross-channel anomaly patterns, especially fraud rings that move the same devices between institutions.
• Compliance is presented as a deliverable: PSD2 SCA style obligations are mandatory rather than optional, and a vendor that builds an evidence trail into the product positioning is aiming at regulated institutions rather than grey-area business.

Product Ecosystem

Authentication

The lowest layer of the platform, spanning all channels and use cases. The core action is a real-time integrity check: whether the transaction was initiated by the claimed account holder on the current device, whether the device state matches history, and whether the session shows signs of takeover. This layer determines how much usable signal the products above it receive.

Digital Account Authentication

Account-level authentication for online banking, mobile banking and apps, covering login, step-up confirmation for sensitive actions and account recovery. It is also the context source for 3DS decisions, because a more complete trusted-device list at the account level gives the transaction moment better frictionless grounds.

3-D Secure

The product line covers all 3 roles in the chain. ACS serves issuers with the challenge flow and result signing. 3DS Server serves merchants and acquirers by submitting transactions into the directory and handling the response. Server Directory supports institutions that need routing and registration inside their own ecosystem. A merchant usually needs only 1 of the 3, while a regulated institution may need all 3.

Risk Intelligence

Real-time contextual intelligence from global behavioural data, used to draw a finer line between challenging and approving. It is wired in as a signal feed rather than as a replacement for your own risk engine.

Authentication Advisor

An advisory layer over the authentication portfolio, used to assess coverage gaps and friction cost and to recommend adjustments. For banks with existing investments it answers a narrower question: which challenges can be removed and which must stay.

Limitations

• Context advantage is highly scenario dependent: guest checkout, large B2B transfers and agent-placed orders all lack device and session signals, so the value of cross-channel unification decays quickly. Inventory how much of your volume happens inside a logged-in state before buying.
• Part of the 3DS experience is outside your control: even with a perfectly configured 3DS Server, challenge UI, pass rates and failure reasons belong to the issuer ACS and the scheme directory. You can improve the signals you submit, not how the other side processes them.
• Frictionless ratio cannot be bought upward: exempt low-value transactions, trusted beneficiary lists and risk thresholds set the ceiling. A vendor can supply better signals and finer policy tooling, but the final ratio follows regulatory interpretation and acquirer risk appetite.
• 3DS does not cover every fraud type: it answers whether the card is being used by its holder, and nothing beyond authentication. Post-authorisation refund abuse, friendly fraud, first-time card binding after account takeover and parts of APP scams sit outside its scope, so treating 3DS as the whole anti-fraud programme leaves a visible gap.
• Compliance responsibility does not transfer: PCI DSS scope and SCA accountability remain with the merchant and acquirer. Vendors supply tools and evidence, not audit conclusions.
• Integration and certification take months: scheme certification, cross-browser and cross-device compatibility and issuer-side integration all run on long schedules. Budget the time in the launch plan instead of discovering it during technical integration.
• Cost scales with volume: authentication pricing typically tracks annual transaction counts, authentication method mix and deployment model, so low-ticket high-frequency models need their own modelling rather than reference cases.

Use Cases

• Banks and licensed payment institutions building 3DS or ACS (★★★★★): account systems, device data and in-house risk teams are all present, so the cross-channel context is fully consumed and both ACS and 3DS Server may be needed.
• Unified authentication for digital and mobile banking (★★★★★): when login, sensitive actions, contact centre verification and payment decisions need one identity standard, a single platform keeps policy consistent better than several stitched tools.
• Contact-centre-heavy and manual verification operations (★★★★☆): telephone channels carry high verification cost and high fraud rates, so replacing some knowledge-based questions with device and behavioural signals pays back faster than adding a transaction challenge.
• Cross-border e-commerce and outbound business adding 3DS (★★★☆☆): the 3DS Server can handle overseas card transactions, but as a merchant you do not hold bank-side context, so the practical benefit approaches a standard 3DS provider and should be priced accordingly.
• Mainland China operations (☆☆☆☆☆): domestic card 3DS runs through domestic acquirers and the domestic scheme, so an overseas 3DS vendor does not enter that path. Cross-border and outbound business can use its overseas acquiring path, but acquirer and scheme admission requirements for the 3DS Server must be confirmed first.
• Worst fit: pure catalogue stores with no accounts (★☆☆☆☆): no logged-in state, no app and no contact centre means no cross-channel context, and the capability you buy differs little from a standard 3DS Server.

Pricing

The main cost drivers are annual transaction count, authentication method mix including passwordless and contact centre verification, the frictionless ratio you expect, whether ACS and 3DS Server are bought together, SaaS versus on-premise deployment, and the scope and duration of project delivery. No price list is published, so any precise figure belongs in a contract, and the advertised payback period should not be used to back-solve a unit price.

The table reflects the currently published product structure on the Entersekt website. No standard rate card is published; actual quotes and delivery scope are governed by your contract.

FAQ

• Is Entersekt a 3DS Server or an ACS?
  Both, plus a Server Directory. The 3DS Server serves merchants and acquirers, the ACS serves issuers, and the Server Directory supports institutions that need in-ecosystem routing and registration. Buy only the link that matches your position in the chain.

• How much can it raise my frictionless ratio?
  There is no universal answer. The ratio depends on signal quality, risk thresholds and regulatory exemptions. Entersekt adds bank-side identity and device context, but if most of your transactions happen on a guest checkout page that advantage largely disappears.

• Does using Entersekt remove chargeback work?
  No. 3DS addresses authentication and liability shift only. Post-authorisation fraud, friendly fraud and refund abuse stay outside it, so dispute management, transaction monitoring and case handling still need separate investment.

• Can a normal e-commerce merchant use it?
  Technically you can buy just the 3DS Server, but most merchants already obtain 3DS through their acquirer or gateway. Buying Entersekt on its own only pays off when you can supply logged-in context and device signals and the volume justifies the platform cost.

• Is it suitable for mainland China merchants?
  Domestic card 3DS runs through domestic acquirers and the domestic scheme, and overseas 3DS vendors do not enter that path. Cross-border sellers using overseas acquiring can evaluate the 3DS Server, after confirming admission and certification requirements with the acquirer.

Source: original 16IDC content. Product capabilities, supported countries and fee definitions follow the official documentation on entersekt.com and your contract.