Changes to Card Capture in European Countries Enforcing Strong Customer Authentication (SCA)

What's changed?

The recently enforced Strong Customer Authentication (SCA) regulations adopted by all European Economic Area (EEA) countries as well as the United Kingdom (UK) and Switzerland has caused two changes to how the card capture function works in Ovatu:

1. It is no longer possible to charge a stored credit card in these countries. This affects all online payment systems. The SCA regulation requires the payment to take place on the customer's browser and they must also authorise it via 2 Factor Authentication (2FA).
2. While capturing (not charging) card details with the Stripe integration continues to work the same way, this has changed in the Square integration. With the Square integration you can either take a payment while your customers are creating a booking online, or you can capture their card details without taking a payment. It's no longer possible to both take a payment and capture card details at the same time with the Square integration. This change applies to all countries.

This article from Money Saving Expert explains more about this change

Which countries are affected?

The changes to the Square integration applies to all countries. The changes to charging stored cards applies to United Kingdom (UK), Switzerland and all European Economic Area (EEA) countries - Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Republic of Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden.

 All other countries can still charge stored cards.

Is it still worth capturing card details in these countries?

That depends on your business and your customers. The feedback we get from most Ovatu users that use the card capture feature is that they very rarely actually charge customers credit cards, and simply letting customers know that they'll be charged in the event of a no-show or late cancellation is enough to drastically reduce both those from happening.

What can I do now that I can't charge a stored card?

If you don't already require a deposit for online bookings, you may want to consider adding that. Or if you already do require a deposit, and normally charge an extra amount for no-shows and late cancellations, you may want to consider increasing the deposit requirement. You can also require full payment for online bookings. See How do I take deposits and payments online?

You can also send a payment request email asking a customer to make a payment online. This still works as normal as the transaction takes place on the customer's browser and they can authorise it. See How do I request an online payment?

What else does SCA affect?

SCA applies to all online payments in the affected countries. Anyone wanting to pay anything online must contact their bank and set up 2FA. If a customer's payment has failed while creating a booking or from a payment request email, there's a good chance they've not set up 2FA with their bank.