Skip to article
ecomservices.io
Payment orchestration · How to run this
RoutingCalculatorCascadeCalculatorRetriesCalculator3DS placementCalculatorDeclinesCalculatorAffinityNot on this page yetOptimisationCalculator

Library · Payment orchestration · How to run this

Pre-auth 3DS is not the same tax as step-up

How to run thisPayment orchestration4 steps
GuidePre-auth vs post-auth 3DS — claim map · Calculator lives in the articleOpen

Pre-auth 3DS challenges before (or as) the first authorization. Post-auth / step-up 3DS adds a challenge after a soft decline. Same protocol, different who pays the friction and usually different retry accounting. Do not paste one drop % onto both paths.

Pair: Pre-auth vs post-auth 3DS — claim map on Orchestration. Dollars: 3DS lift. Retry count: step-up retry.

How to read the fork

Pre-auth. Broad convert tax. Place by amount / BIN / risk — not every cart.

Step-up. Narrower set (already soft-declined). Still usually an auth attempt. Soft NSF is not fixed by a challenge.

Neither. Hard fails — kill the token; do not challenge-hop.

What not to do

Do not use first-try drop math for step-up. Do not assume step-up is free of the retry window. Do not turn on both blindly and call it one “3DS rate.” Do not invent a universal challenge % for either path.

Related: Orchestration, 3DS lift, step-up retry, 3DS vs ratio.

Procedure

  1. Name whether the rule is first-try or post-decline.
  2. Measure each path’s abandon / tax separately.
  3. Get step-up count rules in writing.
  4. Place pre-auth by risk — not every cart.

Failure modes

  • One drop % for both paths.
  • Assuming step-up is free of the retry count.
  • Challenging every first try for shift theater.
  • Using step-up to “fix” NSF.

Worked example

None on this page yet. When one lands it will be a real case: what broke, the number, and what changed. Not a composite.

Glossary

Pre-auth vs step-up 3DS
Pre-auth challenges on the first try. Step-up adds 3DS after a soft decline. Different friction payers and usually different retry accounting.

Work with us — We run this job on your accounts. Services

FAQ

Is putting 3DS on every first try the same as stepping up after NSF?
No. Pre-auth taxes clean shoppers. Step-up hits a smaller soft-decline set and still usually burns a retry.
Which one should I measure first?
Measure each path alone — first-try drop on [3DS lift](/manuals/three-ds-lift), step-up count rules on [step-up retry](/manuals/step-up-retry).
Does liability shift care which path I used?
Shift needs successful authentication. Failed pre-auth and failed step-up both miss shift.