PSD2 Exemption Fields Available in 3DS Decisioning Requests

Release Date

September 10, 2026

Products Affected

3DS

Impact

New fields on 3DS decisioning requests

Audience

EEA and UK Card programs using 3DS Customer Decisioning

Action Required

None, this change is additive only

Overview

Beginning Thursday, September 10th, 3DS decisioning requests will include a new psd2_context object, and decisioning responses will accept a new exemption_applied field. Together these give card programs operating in the EEA and UK visibility into how SCA exemptions were claimed and validated, along with a way to assert their own exemption determination at decisioning time.

Details

The psd2_context object is added to the 3DS authentication object and appears on the 3DS decisioning request Lithic sends to a registered 3DS responder endpoint. The field is present on every decisioning request, and is set to null when Lithic determines a transaction is out of scope for PSD2 Strong Customer Authentication. On in-scope transactions it carries two fields: acquirer_exemption and lithic_exemption_validation.

Acquirer Exemption Values

The acquirer_exemption field reports the SCA exemption declared by the acquirer in the 3DS authentication request:

Exemption Code	Description
`NONE`	No exemption claimed
`TRANSACTION_RISK_ANALYSIS`	Transaction Risk Analysis (TRA) exemption; acquirer asserts low fraud risk
`LOW_VALUE`	Low-value payment exemption; transaction is below the EUR 30 threshold
`RECURRING_PAYMENT`	Recurring payment with a fixed amount to the same payee
`MERCHANT_INITIATED_TRANSACTION`	Merchant-initiated transaction (MIT); cardholder not present
`TRUSTED_BENEFICIARY`	Trusted beneficiary; merchant is on the cardholder's trusted list
`STRONG_CUSTOMER_AUTHENTICATION_DELEGATION`	SCA already performed by a delegated third-party authenticator
`SECURE_CORPORATE_PAYMENT`	Secure corporate payment using a dedicated corporate card or process
`AUTHENTICATION_OUTAGE_EXCEPTION`	Authentication outage exception; scheme-level fallback during ACS downtime
`BUNDLED`	Mastercard only; bundled exemption code where the exact exemption type cannot be distinguished

Lithic Exemption Validation Values

The lithic_exemption_validation field reports Lithic's validation of the acquirer-declared exemption. It is absent when no acquirer exemption was declared:

Status	Description
`ACCEPTED`	Lithic signals support the acquirer's claim
`REJECTED`	Lithic signals contradict the claim, or a required signal is missing
`NOT_VALIDATED`	Exemption was declared but Lithic has no basis to evaluate it; treated as `REJECTED` for challenge purposes

Declaring an Exemption on Approval

The 3DS decisioning response accepts an optional exemption_applied field, which declares the SCA exemption a card program asserts on an APPROVE decision. The field is ignored on DECLINE and CHALLENGE_REQUESTED decisions, and should be omitted for full SCA with no exemption asserted.

Card programs set this field when they hold grounds or knowledge that override Lithic's own validation. Two values are supported:

Code	Description
`TRANSACTION_RISK_ANALYSIS`	Transaction Risk Analysis (TRA); card program has independent fraud scoring that supports frictionless approval
`RECURRING_PAYMENT`	Recurring payment with a fixed amount to the same payee; card program has explicit mandate data

Example Request and Response

With this update, in-scope decisioning requests carry the psd2_context object:

{
  "psd2_context": {
    "acquirer_exemption": "TRANSACTION_RISK_ANALYSIS",
    "lithic_exemption_validation": "REJECTED"
  }
}

A card program that approves the transaction on its own TRA grounds responds with exemption_applied:

{
  "three_ds_authentication_decision": "APPROVE",
  "exemption_applied": "TRANSACTION_RISK_ANALYSIS"
}

On transactions out of scope for PSD2 Strong Customer Authentication, the field is present and null:

{
  "psd2_context": null
}

Release Timeline

September 10, 2026

User Impact

This change is additive only. Existing integrations will continue to function without modification. For customers operating outside of the EEA or UK, psd2_context will always be null. exemption_applied is optional on all decisioning responses.

Updated Documentation

For complete decisioning request and response specifications, visit our API Reference. For background on the decisioning flow, see the 3DS Customer Decisioning guide.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact us via the HELP link in your Lithic Dashboard.

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