An introduction to secure payment authentication from Google Pay

Checkout.com is pleased to announce the launch of secure payment authentication from Google Pay. We are the first to partner with Google for this new service and bring it to market.

Secure payment authentication from Google Pay provides merchants and PSPs with an alternative way to conduct SCA-compliant (2FA) authentication for online purchases while streamlining the customer journey, increasing acceptance, and boosting conversions.

Checkout.com can now offer merchants this best-in-class authentication experience, which leverages device tokens and device-level biometrics like fingerprint, facial recognition, a PIN or password to reduce friction for the user. 

Here, you’ll discover what secure payment authentication from Google Pay is, how it works for merchants, how it differs from 3DS, the benefits of using it, and how Checkout.com can help. 

What is secure payment authentication from Google Pay?

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Secure payment authentication from Google Pay simplifies and minimizes disruptions during online checkouts, enhancing the overall customer authentication experience. The process is significantly improved by introducing a more natural authentication method using biometrics. Essentially, Google Pay has modularized this service, which can be invoked by the merchants via Checkout.com

Until now, many businesses have been limited to using EMV 3D Secure, the version of the protocol produced by EMVCo.

While effective, existing solutions can be slow (involving at least 7 steps and taking an average of 52 seconds to complete) and inconsistent, leading to customer frustration and abandoned carts. 

That’s where secure payment authentication comes in. Rather than being redirected to the issuer to complete two-factor authentication, cardholders are authenticated using a biometric prompt and device-bound payment credential. This has the potential to reduce the number of steps in the user journey by up to 60%, limiting interruptions and maximizing the chances of a successful purchase. At the same time, security is enhanced, and the liability shifts to the issuer for fraudulent transactions.

How does secure payment authentication from Google Pay work?

Here’s how secure payment authentication works for merchants in 6 steps: 

• The customer attempts a purchase on your website or app
• Checkout.com connects to Google Pay and initiates a request to authenticate. The customer sees a biometric prompt (such as a facial or fingerprint scan) or device PIN to complete a challenge requirement.
• For successful authentication, Google Pay passes a token & cryptogram bundle back to Checkout.com, and if you (merchant) are on our integrated authentication product, we will use the result to obtain authorization from the issuer, or if you’re on our standalone authentication product, we will respond back with the result for you to authorize with your PSP
• We then inform you that the transaction has been authenticated
• Your customer is directed to your success page

As a Checkout.com merchant, you have a few options when it comes to enabling secure payment authentication from Google Pay into your payment flow, including:

• Integrated on hosted - if you both process and authenticate payments with Checkout.com, you can only use secure payment authentication as a hosted experience. That means we host a challenge flow on our domain, then collect data points and submit an authentication request on your behalf
• Standalone on hosted flow - for a hosted flow, you use Checkout.com’s own challenge flow to capture cardholder data and submit the integration request
• Standalone on non-hosted Flow - if you only use Checkout.com for authentication, you can choose whether to use a non-hosted or hosted flow. For a non-hosted flow, you build and own the challenge flow/user experience, which means you are responsible for capturing all the necessary data and submitting the authentication request

Difference between 3DS and secure payment authentication from Google Pay

The primary distinction between 3DS and secure payment authentication from Google Pay lies in their verification methods. 3DS depends on bank verification through SMS OTP, bank login, or security questions, introducing friction and making the checkout process longer. In contrast, secure payment authentication from Google Pay meets two-factor authentication (2FA) requirements using a device-bound token (possession) and device biometric or device PIN (inherence). This streamlines the checkout flow, making it faster and more convenient without disrupting the user experience.

However, offering both authentication experiences is at the core of our ambition to be a one-stop shop for all our merchants’ payments and security needs. 

What does this mean for you? Checkout.com’s authentication offering has evolved into a comprehensive solution. Beyond connecting to various schemes and access control servers (ACS) to support 3D Secure for one-time-password (OTP) and out-of-band (OOB) experiences, we have now enhanced our solution by integrating device biometric-driven authentication with Google.

Benefits of using secure payment authentication from Google Pay with Checkout.com

There are a range of benefits including: 

Better user experience

Secure payment authentication from Google Pay drastically reduces friction during the checkout process. Your customer experiences fewer interruptions and up to 60% fewer steps. Users with device-bound tokens simply have to respond to the prompt with a single biometric factor or device PIN to complete the purchase - there’s no need to enter passwords again.

The result of this? A streamlined user experience, lower cart abandonment rate, and more sales.

Higher acceptance rates

Secure payment authentication from Google Pay can potentially boost your acceptance rates through Checkout.com’s intelligent routing. Trained on billions of transactions from across our network, Checkout.com’s data and decision system can intelligently judge which authentication experience has the greatest chance of being accepted and automatically retry a different authentication experience without risking user dropout. 

Enhanced security with liability shift 

Secure payment authentication from Google Pay supports SCA compliance in the EEA and UK and relies on advanced measures like biometrics, so you know that your transactions are secure and eligible for liability shift.

Intelligence Layer

Our Intelligence Layer is at the core of our authentication product. It uses a combination of our Machine learning (ML) and our network to automatically ensure that users get presented the best performing authentication experience be it secure payment authentication from Google Pay or 3D Secure.This decision-making is based on a number of factors, including supported devices, performance, cost and more.

Not only that: if the first authentication attempt is unsuccessful, our Intelligent Fallback option automatically retries using a different authentication experience, reducing the risk of an abandoned cart. 

We also understand the importance of control, so we've also asked you to choose your preferred authentication experience and set fallback options per authentication.

Fight fraud and reduce friction with Checkout.com

As a Checkout.com merchant, you’re at the front of the line to benefit from our industry-first collaboration with secure payment authentication from Google Pay.

The collaboration continues with our goal of presenting a truly modular, open, and transparent platform, giving our merchants the ability to build fully-optimized and powerful payment experiences. 

Performance optimization is at the heart of our strategy, allowing you to offer ever-more fraud-resistant, frictionless and streamlined checkout experiences to your users, which, ultimately, means higher conversions and higher revenue. 

Speak to one of our experts today to discover how Checkout.com can help you fight fraud, reduce friction, and grow your business.