• Guide Authentication

    Use device-based biometric authentication methods to help mitigate fraud and improve your customer experience.

Forget passwords

Guide Authentication provides a simple and secure authentication mechanism to help mitigate fraud and reduce cart abandonment. Guide Authentication is a strong authentication solution built using FIDO (Fast Identity Online), an open industry standard developed to reduce the use of passwords and one-time passcodes (OTPs), which are key targets of information criminals are increasingly looking to steal. Guide provides convenient and privacy preserving biometric authentication capabilities while protecting cardholder privacy.

Guide authentication logo.

1/3 of online purchases are abandoned due to forgotten passwords¹

55 %

of consumers do not feel passwords are secure2

80 %

of hacking-related breaches used either stolen or weak passwords3

38 %

of consumers reported hacked accounts due to stolen credentials4

Businesses need a better solution to meet rising consumer demand for safer, more convenient authentication experiences. In Europe, businesses will also need to maintain compliance with government regulations for strong customer authentication.

What Guide Authentication helps you do

Deliver seamless authentication

Guide Authentication is Visa’s simple and secure authentication solution to the world’s password problem. Powered by FIDO technology, Guide Authentication empowers businesses with faster, more secure authentication experiences that use device-based biometerics or security keys to authenticate shoppers at checkout.

Help achieve strong customer authentication (SCA) compliance

Guide Authentication can be used with EMV® 3-D Secure (3DS) and Delegated Authentication (DA) to help strong customer authentication (SCA). When Guide Authentication is used in combination with DA, this provides a framework that empowers merchants to perform SCA on behalf of the issuer.

What is FIDO?

FIDO (Fast Identity Online) is the new global standard for strong authentication, established by a consortium of the world’s leading technology companies. FIDO uses biometric identifiers or security keys to seamlessly authenticate consumers on FIDO-compatible devices. Unlike password databases, FIDO stores personally identifying information (PII) locally, on the user’s device. To better protect consumer privacy, biometric data never leaves the consumer’s device.

  • FIDO® is a trademark (registered in numerous countries) of FIDO Alliance, Inc. The FIDO, FIDO ALLIANCE, FIDO AUTHENTICATION, FIDO CERTIFIED and FIDO2 trademarks and logos are trademarks of FIDO Alliance.

Benefits

Guide Authentication helps accelerate eCommerce, build trust and reduce fraud across the payments ecosystem.

Standards-based

Implements a global authentication standard which is natively supported by all major browsers and operating systems

Helps protect against payment fraud

Helps mitigate fraud by eliminating the need to use passwords and OTPs for authentication; helps defend against phishing and man-in-the-middle attacks

Fast and convenient experiences

Enables consumers to easily authenticate themselves with their fingerprint, face, or device PIN

Helps reduce friction

Designed to reduce friction during checkout when step-up authentication is required

Security and reliability of Visa

Privacy preserving technology, biometric information never leaves a consumer’s device

Features

Scheme agnostic two-factor authentication solution built on industry standard protocol

Consumers only need to register once and can authenticate anywhere Guide Authentication is supported

Designed to work with EMV 3DS and Visa’s Delegated Authentication Program to help meet Strong Customer Authentication requirements

Get more information on Guide Authentication from Visa

Contact us to learn more

Footnotes