Amadeus: 65% of airlines and travel agents expect introduction of SCA to negatively impact sales

Amadeus head of merchant services, payments, Jean-Christophe Lacou, via the company's official blog, reported (09-Sep-2019) the introduction of 'Strong Customer Authentication' (SCA) regulations in Europe "poses risks for travel merchants" as well as bringing "implementation challenges". Requiring travellers to undergo additional checks "introduces some friction to the digital experience", with Amadeus' research showing the industry expects this additional friction to increase abandonment rates by 10%-20%. Another concern amongst the e-Commerce community is the potential for a 'cliff edge', where a card issuer cannot request a traveller performs SCA two factor authentication, so they "may simply reject the payment". Amadeus noted 65% of airlines and agents expect SCA to negatively impact sales. [more - original PR]