What is 3D Secure, and is it supported by Textline?

Some banks and credit card providers use an extra security feature called 3D Secure (3DS). While this feature helps protect cardholders from fraud, it can prevent payments from processing successfully on Textline.

Because of how our automated billing system works, Textline does not currently support 3D Secure-enabled payment methods or credit cards.

💡 What is 3D Secure?

3D Secure (or 3DS) is a security protocol used by many card issuers - including Visa (“Verified by Visa”), Mastercard (“Mastercard Identity Check”), and American Express (“SafeKey”).

When 3D Secure is enabled, your bank may ask you to verify your identity before approving a payment - for example, by:

Entering a one-time password (OTP) or code sent by text or email
Approving a notification in your banking app
Completing biometric verification (like Face ID or a fingerprint)

This extra step helps protect you from unauthorized charges when making one-time online purchases.

⚙️ Why Textline can’t support 3D Secure cards

Textline’s billing system is designed to handle automated and recurring payments - like:

Subscription renewals
Automatic message credit top-ups
Triggered charges related to account usage

These payments happen in the background to make sure your Textline account stays active without interruption. Because 3D Secure requires manual approval for each charge, it’s not compatible with automated billing. Textline doesn’t have a way to prompt you to verify each charge, which means payments would fail unless you were online to approve them immediately.

To keep your service seamless and uninterrupted, we can’t support payment methods that require 3D Secure verification.

🧭 What to do if your payment fails

If your payment fails and your card or bank mentions “3D Secure” or “authentication required” - or Textline advised that your payment method isn’t supported, here are your options:

1. Contact your bank or card provider

Ask if 3D Secure is enabled on your card. You can request:

To disable 3D Secure for recurring or subscription-based payments
To whitelist or approve Textline (via Stripe) as a trusted merchant so payments can go through automatically
To use a card type that doesn’t require 3D Secure authentication for automated payments

Note: Some banks may not be able to disable 3D Secure or add merchant exceptions, depending on their policies.

2. Try a different payment method

If 3D Secure can’t be disabled or adjusted, we recommend using a different card that doesn’t enforce 3D Secure authentication.

For example:

A business or corporate card (these often bypass 3DS verification)
A personal card without 3D Secure enabled

You can update your payment method anytime in your Billing Settings within Textline or reach out directly to [email protected] for further assistance.

🚨 Common signs of 3D Secure issues

You may be experiencing a 3D Secure-related payment issue if you notice:

A payment error mentioning “authentication required” or “3DS verification failed”
A payment that shows as “blocked” or “pending authorization” with your bank
Your Textline account showing “payment failed” even though your card has funds

If you see these, it’s likely your card requires manual approval for recurring payments- which Textline can’t process.

✅ Summary

Question	Answer
What is 3D Secure?	A fraud-prevention feature requiring manual verification for online card payments.
Why isn’t it supported?	Textline processes payments automatically and can’t request user approval for each charge.
What can I do?	Contact your bank to disable 3D Secure or whitelist Textline, or use a different card.

💬 Still need help?

If you’ve confirmed 3D Secure is causing the issue and need further assistance, please reach out to us at [email protected].