Online merchants should begin planning to adopt the MasterCard SecureCode payment authentication initiative now, or risk being unable to accept Maestro card payments via their web sites after 30 June, according to payments processing provider CyberSource.

A recent fraud report carried out by the company found that less than half of firms have implemented the 3-D Secure schemes – SecureCode and Verified By Visa – which were set up to reduce online fraud by adding an extra level of authentication to the transaction process.

Until now the card companies have relied on attracting merchants to the scheme with the promise that, once on board, participating retailers will not be liable if a customer is defrauded.

"This involves technology changes, and we've found some of the larger retailers have been slow to get projects rolled out," added Nathan Jackson, managing director of CyberSource. "It's not that difficult though – they have still got time."

But when the Mastercard deadline passes, non-compliant firms could face monthly fines of up to $25,000 per month as well as higher transaction costs, according to Mark McMurtrie of payer authentication specialist The Logic Group.

CyberSource advised firms to train customer support teams to field any questions they may get about SecureCode, ensure finance teams know which chargebacks they will no longer be liable for, and also to maintain multi-channel fraud prevention to mitigate the risk of fraudsters migrating from online fraud.