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Starting on September 14, 2019, banks in the 31 countries of the European Economic Area are required to verify the identity of the person making an online purchase before the payment can be processed. This verification requires multi-factor authentication to help ensure your online purchases are secure and protected. Note that the date for this verification requirement may be delayed for some countries. 

This FAQ contains answers to commonly asked questions about the additional information required for multi-factor authentication. 

Your bank requires that you use multi-factor authentication in order to complete the purchase and you’ll be prompted to enter the required information on an authentication page that is displayed by the bank. For example, you may be asked to provide biometrics, a one-time passcode (OTP) via SMS message, PIN, or other identifying information that you’ve set up with your bank.

Your bank determines when to apply multi-factor authentication based on the transaction amount, purchase activity or other factors. As a result, you may not be asked to go through additional authentication steps.

Your bank is requiring multi-factor authentication, as required by law, to help prevent online fraud and unauthorized access to your account in an effort to ensure that you are the only one who can make purchases using your payment credentials.

Any online or e-commerce purchase using American Express, Mastercard and Visa cards may require multi-factor authentication to complete the payment.

You may also be asked to provide additional authentication when you change your payment method, add a new payment method, make a payment, upgrade or switch your subscription plans or modify your billing recurrence - even if you’re not making a purchase at the time.

We tried to charge your account for a subscription that you own, but the charge was unsuccessful because your bank requires multi-factor authentication to process the payment. To prevent any service interruption and to continue using your subscription, please follow the instructions in the email you received to provide authentication and pay your outstanding balance.

Note that your current payment method may be valid and only needs to be updated with multi-factor authentication for added security. You will only need to do this once, and after your account is updated you won’t be prompted to provide this information for future subscription renewals.

Notes: 

  • If you’re not able to update your account, please contact your bank to fix the issue.

  • For general information about your subscriptions and status of each, please visit your Services & subscriptions page.

 

  • Make sure to check the mobile phone number and email address that are associated with your bank account.

  • Check your Junk folder in case the verification email that your bank sent, has gone to your spam folder.

  • Check your network settings or cellular connectivity to make sure you’re connected.

  • If you haven’t received the code after 3 minutes, click the “Resend code” button to receive a new code from your bank, and check your email or mobile phone again.

Your session might have timed out if you were inactive on the site, or you might have accidentally entered the wrong code. Resend the code and refresh the page, then enter the code again. There could also be server outages, so wait a bit and try resending the code. 

If this doesn’t resolve the issue , contact your bank so they can validate the contact info associated with your payment method and if necessary help update your account.

  • If you’re under 18 and want to purchase an item using a parent or guardian’s payment method on your account, ask them to set up a Microsoft family group, or use a gift card. With your parents’ permission, you can use funds that they’ve added to your Microsoft account to purchase items.

  • If you're under 18 and want to purchase or renew a subscription on your account, you will need to use a pre-paid subscription card or redeem a digital subscription code.

  • If you’re over 18 and making a purchase on behalf of someone else, and the owner of the payment instrument isn’t available to provide you with the info to authenticate the account, use a different payment method, such as gift cards, to complete the purchase.

 

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