SCA Required - Can't pay via online - driving me nuts.

SaitenMar

Hi folks,

I need some help. For the past seven or so months I've been running into an issue that's been driving me nuts and both my bank and the retailers I'm dealing with have been pretty useless. It started with Virgin Media, whose bills I've paid online for many years now. Suddenly my payments kept getting rejected because of SCA, soft decline, SCA exemption. Puzzled I eventually got in touch with Virgin Media and was informed the issue was with my bank and I needed to speak with them about the payment. I got in touch with my bank and a very helpful representative informed me that the issue is in fact with Virgin Media and that they (and many other retailers) still haven't adjusted to new security requirements that came in place recently. I ended up having to pay via phone although considering it took me a good few days to sort out the confusion my payment was late so had extra charges applied. 

In the past week or so I have run into the exact same issue with Amazon. Was looking to buy a small item off the site and was informed that my payment was declined for no apparent reason. I got in touch with Amazon and a rep told me the issue is with my bank so allowing the payment to go through, I got in touch with my bank and yet again a representative informed me it's entirely down to the retailer Amazon. We spoke at length that quite a few people are running into this issue and that it's all down to retailers not updating their systems to take into account extra security levels that have been introduced. In fact, the rep of the bank was quite honest about how poor the retailers have been in fixing this issue and I ended up having to cancel my order because the payment would not go through and Amazon wouldn't accept that it was their problem. 

Now I know that part of this involves getting a message off my bank with a specific code to enter when making payments, however having tried two different phones I almost never get any messages off my bank to confirm my payments. At this point, I'm at a loss and it's driving me crazy because it's making paying certain bills difficult. The research I've done at least suggests that Virgin Media knows about this issue but there's been no fix for many months now and I worry it's only going to get worse from here on out. 

Does anyone know if there's anything I can do to fix this issue or am I screwed? Neither the bank nor retailers want to take full responsibility for this and I'm so frustrated. 
Thanks for any advice. 

k_man

Which bank are you with?
Do you receive SCA prompts successfully for any payments?
If so are the prompts SMS or in app?
If not, do you have the banking app or your phone, and is your mobile number registered on your bank account?

Olinda99

Amazon definitely have updated their systems so it's not a problem with Amazon (can't speak for Virgin)

Normally confirmations will come either by a SMS text (input the code) or via a pop-up on the app if you have the banking app installed.

Do you have a card with a different bank to try?

Bigwheels1111

I make lots of online payments in a month.
Amazon, Zavvi, Council, Rent, Food credit card bills etc.
The odd one sends a text, not many to be honest.
All the Amazon payments just go through without any checks. On average 18 orders a month.
To get 1% cashback I use my Chase bank for purchases, That requests conformation through the app.
Works great.
FD, Chase, Starling, TSB and Nationwide are all not causing issues with payments.
I think it’s time to switch banks.
The only problem I have is my mobile uses a Plusnet sim, it does not allow 5 digit texts.
So unable to reply to security texts. A bit of a pain, but 2000 mins unlimited text’s and 1.5gb data for £2.00 a month suits me.

masonic

If you aren't getting a prompt to enter a code or authorise the transaction at the website you are paying, then the retailer doesn't support the SCA system. If you get the prompt online but a code is not received, then it is either your bank or your phone network. If this problem was widespread then we'd be hearing a lot more about it, so it seems it may be something specific to your circumstances.

Like others, I've had no issues with Amazon, or any other retailer. Most of my transactions require two factor authorisation and it's never been a problem for me.