Checkout.com · Decline codes
What does Checkout.com 20154 “3DS authentication required” mean?
Checked
Checkout.com 20154 "3DS authentication required" means the bank declined because the payment needs 3-D Secure authentication. Checkout.com's advice is to try again with the same card or a different card. Visa lists it in category 3, paired with recommendation code 01: authentication may improve the chance of approval.
- Type
- Soft decline (20xxx)
- Who declined
- The shopper's bank
- Retry
- Only with corrected details. Visa category 3: at most 15 attempts in 30 days
- Shopper action
- Complete the bank's verification step
- Merchant action
- Run 3-D Secure and try again
What PlatformDTC does
For Checkout.com 20154, PlatformDTC's routing answer is authenticate, not reroute. The shopper completes the bank's 3-D Secure check through Checkout.com Flow; no second processor is offered. A subscription renewal declined with 20154 is not retried without the customer: they get an email asking them to confirm the payment with their bank.
Why it happens
The issuer, or rules such as strong customer authentication, required the shopper to verify the payment.
What the shopper can do
Approve the payment in your banking app or enter the code when asked.
What the store can do
Retry with 3-D Secure. Charges taken without the customer present cannot do this, so ask them to complete the payment themselves.
For developers
The payment comes back with status Declined, response_code 20154 and a response_summary such as "3DS authentication required" (Checkout.com notes the text can vary by endpoint). Checkout.com's Visa table puts this code in category 3, which it pairs with recommendation code 01 (updated or additional information required); read processing.recommendation_code on the response.
Frequently asked questions
- Is Checkout.com 20154 the same as Stripe authentication_required?
- Yes in meaning: Stripe documents authentication_required as declined because the transaction requires authentication such as 3D Secure.
- Can a subscription renewal fix 20154 on its own?
- No. The cardholder must be present to authenticate, so they need to complete the payment.
Sources
- API response codes — Checkout.com
- Visa response codes — Checkout.com
- Recommendation codes — Checkout.com
- Decline codes — Stripe
Related
- 20151 — The shopper did not pass the bank's verification step.
- 43401 — Checkout.com requires 3-D Secure authentication before this payment can go through.
- 20157 — The store's Checkout.com configuration is invalid for this payment.
- 20159 — The bank's authentication server failed during 3-D Secure.
- 20179 — The card data is no longer valid, for example an outdated card.
- 20182 — The payment does not comply with the card's policies.
- 20183 — The payment is suspected to be fraudulent.
- 30004 — The bank wants the card taken out of use, without saying fraud. Never retry.