# Authenticated payment declined with an `authentication_required` decline code

### If an authenticated payment is declined with the decline code `authentication_required`, the customer should contact their card issuer for more information or try again with a different form of payment.
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### What this decline code means
Since 2019, card issuers can provide an `authentication_required` decline code when declining an attempted payment. Typically, this means that a customer should retry the payment using 3D Secure authentication. The bank may request authentication to comply with regulation, such as [Strong Customer Authentication](/questions/strong-customer-authentication-%28sca%29-preparation-and-resources) in Europe, or to validate that the customer is legitimate.
However, card issuers occasionally provide an `authentication_required` decline code on a payment that has already gone through 3D Secure. This usually occurs on Mastercard-branded cards where the card issuer has not yet updated their systems. It occurs because the indicators for the `authentication_required` code previously signalled a different decline code (`withdrawal_count_limit_exceeded`).