UK shoppers will face stricter identity checks in the coming weeks as retailers get ready for new anti-fraud rules that come into force on March 14.
Buyers have already started seeing more requests to verify their ID as payments providers and retailers adopt the new strong customer authentication (SCA) rules.
Under the changes, before a retailer can accept an electronic (online) payment it will have to verify that the customer is who they claim to be. The measures are similar to those already faced by people logging into online banking.
While most low-value retail purchases will go ahead as before, with checks carried out in the background, shoppers buying more expensive items online will have to input a password, a pin or a one-time-passcode they have been sent via a text or landline, or log in to their banking app and approve the purchase.
The rules, which have been introduced by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), were supposed to come into force a year ago but were delayed to give retailers more time to adapt. The legislation came out of the European Banking Authority, and was adopted into UK law before Brexit.
