American Express SafeKey®

Help prevent fraud and reduce friction for customers shopping online.

American Express® SafeKey 2.0

Help prevent fraud and reduce friction for customers shopping online.

Overview

American Express SafeKey 2.0 is a security solution designed to help you detect and reduce fraud on online or in-app purchases. 

 

Leveraging the global standard, EMV®2 3-D Secure, SafeKey 2.0 allows you and the Issuer to exchange detailed customer information to validate identity and provide a safe and seamless checkout experience.

Illustration of data: On average, 85% of transactions decisioned using SafeKey 2.0 do not require a challenge at checkout, thereby reducing friction for most transactions.1

Benefits

SafeKey 2.0 offers valuable benefits for you and your customers.

Reduce fraud liability

Liability for fraud chargebacks on authenticated and attempted transactions can be transferred to the Issuer, protecting your business.

Increase spend confidence

Provide your customers with added security for their online purchases, helping increase spending confidence.

Reduce shopping cart abandonment

Additional data is used to authenticate Card Members without challenge*, potentially improving sales conversion.

Leverage the industry standard for protection
SafeKey 2.0 is based on the global industry standard, EMV 3-D Secure, to detect and reduce online fraud.

*A challenge is when an issuer can request a Card Member to prove their identity, e.g., by use of a one-time passcode (OTP).

Did you know?

Merchants who enabled SafeKey experienced an average decrease of 3% in decline rates for transactions authenticated through SafeKey.3

Merchants who enabled SafeKey experienced an average increase of 3% in authorization rates for transactions authenticated through SafeKey. 3

Merchants experienced an average decrease of 17% in fraud rate by authenticating transactions through SafeKey.4

 

How it Works

SafeKey allows you and the Issuer to seamlessly collaborate to verify a customer before authorization occurs. Here’s how:

How It Works Graphic: 1 Card Member enters credit card details; 2. You receive payment details; 3. SafeKey 2.0 data enables the Issuer to determine risk before authorization; 4. Authorization proceeds as normal
How it Works

SafeKey 2.0 Comparison

SafeKey Comparison Chart

New SafeKey 2.1 certifications no longer accepted after July 2023.

SafeKey 2.1 decommission date end Sept 2024.

SafeKey 2.3 specifications can be accessed through AMEX Enabled and Knowledge Base. Certification for this latest version will be available in late 2023.

 

Additional Resources

role="none"

Ready to learn more about how to implement SafeKey 2.0?

Follow the steps below:

  1. Review our product guide.
  2. To get started with SafeKey 2.0, you must contact a certified 3DS Server (MPI) Provider that can integrate with your website. View a list of certified providers. 
role="none"

Looking to upgrade from SafeKey 1.0?

Follow the steps below:

  1. To learn more about upgrading, view our infographic.
  2. Contact your current 3DS Server Provider and ask for an upgrade today.

Are you an Issuer or Acquirer?

View additional Issuer/Acquirer information.

Don't do business without it

1Based on internal American Express proprietary data, May – November 2021.

2EMV is a registered trademark in the U.S. and other countries and an unregistered trademark elsewhere. The EMV trademark is owned by EMVCo.

3Based on the comparative analysis of authorized transactions for 12 months pre vs. 12 months post enablement of Safekey for 34 Global Merchants who enabled SafeKey
between 2015-2021.

4Based on the comparative analysis of fraud rates for authorized transactions 12 months pre vs. 12 months post enablement of SafeKey for 42 Global Merchants between 2015-2021.