Adyen upgrades Authenticate to cut checkout friction

Adyen has launched an upgraded version of Authenticate, part of its Adyen Uplift payments optimisation suite.

The update routes each transaction in real time to the best-performing authentication method, while adjusting the data sent to issuers to improve approval rates.

Authentication remains a persistent challenge in online payments. Merchants must balance fraud controls and regulatory requirements against the risk that extra checkout steps will deter legitimate customers and lead to abandoned baskets.

The revised system replaces static 3D Secure rules with machine learning-based decisions on every transaction. It determines whether authentication is needed, which method to use, and what data to share with the issuer.

The system draws on historical issuer patterns and shopper preferences, and uses transaction outcomes later in the payment process rather than relying only on the authentication result itself.

That approach reflects Adyen's position in the payments chain. As both authentication provider and acquirer, it can train its models on final authorisation results as well as earlier signals.

The updated product also aims to reduce the operational work for merchants expanding across markets. Customers can avoid building and maintaining separate authentication rules for each country because the platform combines regulatory context with issuer, transaction and shopper signals.

New methods

Alongside 3DS, the platform supports Google Secure Payment Authentication, Mastercard Payment Passkeys, Visa Payment Passkeys and data-only flows through a single integration.

Adyen developed the service with Google, Mastercard and Visa to bring newer authentication approaches into one platform rather than requiring merchants to connect to multiple systems.

For online retailers, the shift is notable because the market is moving beyond standard challenge-based cardholder checks. Newer methods such as passkeys are designed to reduce user friction, but adoption has been uneven and often technically complex for merchants.

The system chooses between those methods based on which one a shopper is most likely to complete. It can also recognise returning shoppers using network-wide risk signals before checkout begins.

According to Adyen, for a retail merchant on its platform there is more than a 90% chance it has seen the shopper before. When the system identifies a trusted shopper, it can work with Adyen's fraud product Protect to apply risk-based authentication only where needed.

Merchant results

Adyen cited early results from customers using the product. Too Good To Go reported an 11% increase in payment conversion, while Just Eat Takeaway.com reported a 12% increase on eligible traffic.

Renan Renner outlined how Adyen sees the role of authentication changing in digital commerce.

"Authentication is evolving from a regulatory checkpoint into a trust layer for digital commerce. The future is not about choosing one protocol, but knowing when and how to use the right mechanism for each transaction. Authenticate is built to make that decision in context, helping turn authentication into a contributor to payment success rather than another step at checkout," said Renan Renner, Group Product Manager, Adyen Uplift, Adyen.

One part of the product focuses on the information that reaches the card issuer. In 3DS transactions, the system evaluates more than 150 data fields and learns which combinations are more likely to result in issuer approval.

That means the software is not just selecting an authentication route. It is also shaping the request in a way that may allow authentication to be removed or completed silently, depending on the circumstances of the transaction.

Just Eat Takeaway.com said the update has changed how it manages the checkout process.

"Authenticate has transformed a static step in our checkout into a dynamic engine that gets better on its own. With a single integration, we've been able to automatically streamline the payment flow and reduce friction for our customers, driving a 12% increase in payment conversion on eligible traffic without requiring ongoing maintenance," said Sander Kole, Fintech Engineering Director, Just Eat Takeaway.com.

Too Good To Go also pointed to gains despite already strong payment performance.

"Our payment conversion was already performing at a very strong level, so achieving a further 11% relative increase during the pilot is a meaningful result for us. Authenticate is helping us reduce unnecessary friction while keeping authentication simpler to manage on our side. Ultimately, that means a smoother experience for our users and stronger payment performance for the business," said Morten Keldebæk, CTO, Too Good To Go.

Authenticate is live globally for 3DS and issuer optimisation. In the UK, live transactions are already being enabled through newer authentication methods, including passkey-based options from Mastercard and Visa, as well as Google SPA.