European Union (EU) internet regulations that went into effect in May of 2018 continue to have an impact on global internet protocol and online financial transactions. You see the regulations in action every time you see a website notice something like, “This site uses cookies” along with a button you must click or tap to accept their presence.
The EU subsequently added more requirements for online financial transactions, including donations made online … and, accordingly, your FlexFormz features are being updated.
To address the issue, Stripe, your FlexFormz payment processor, created what it is calling “Payment Intents.”
“Payment Intents” is a mechanism for tracking the lifecycle of the customer donation/checkout process. Payment Intents also provides tools for Strong Customer Authentication (SCA) when desired.
In order to conform to these regulatory changes, FlexFormz and Stripe are helping users be ready for Payment Intents now, ahead of any such requirements in the USA (or other non-EU countries). On the plus side, Payment Intents are able to provide fraud prevention with things like 3D Secure Card Payments.
With FlexFormz Release 1.12.0, your donation forms now include Payment Intents, which work in the background and ONLY activate IF a credit card has an EU mailing address or IF your donor has 2-step authentication required in their credit card settings.
In simple summary, the new Payment Intents workflow is:
- Donor initiates a gift. That creates a “Payment Intent.”
- Donor completes the donation just as they have in the past.
- If — and ONLY IF — the donor is making the donation from a European address or with a card that requires 2-step authentication — the customer must authorize the payment in a second on-screen click/tap or via text message or phone approval. The Payment Intent is then confirmed, and the donation is completed as it always has been from that point on.
- Transaction flow continues as usual, with on-screen confirmation.
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