# Blocking failed 3DS transactions
The purpose of 3-D Secure is to safeguard the online payment by applying an additional authentication step of the cardholder before sending an authorization request to the card issuer.
However, adoption of 3-D Secure is significantly different across geographic regions. This leads to a variety of payment flows, depending on if 3-D Secure is mandatory or not in that specific country.
Given the role of Verifone as a Payment Gateway, and the differences across regions where merchants can sell, it is necessary to add a blocking rule based on the result of the 3-D Secure authentication to enforce the business flow required by each country.
## Availability
The **Blocking Rulesets** in Verifone Central is available under the *Administration* tab and can be used by any user with a Merchant Admin role.
The availability of 3D-Secure depends on each acquirer. Consult the list of supported acquirers together with the functionality available [here](/online-payments/supported-acquirers.md).
## Workflow in Verifone Central
Merchants that fall under the requirements of PSD 2 and require a 3DS authentication from shoppers located inside the European Economic Area (EEA) need to create two blocking rules to block transactions that either failed or rejected the 3-D Secure authentication process.
Blocking rulesets must be set at Merchant Site level. As a Merchant Admin, in Verifone Central, go under **Administration** > **Blocking Rulesets** and create two new blocking rulesets, blocking based on the 3DS Authentication statuses: N (Failed) and R (Rejected). These need to be two independent blocking rulesets.
**Create a blocking ruleset for failed 3DS transactions**
**Create a blocking ruleset for rejected 3DS transactions**
Read the full documentation for blocking rulesets [here](/online-payments/fraud-management/blocking-rulesets.md).
## Reporting
Failed transactions due to blocking rulesets will have a response code = 9998 with the response description *Transaction blocked by validation rules*. Further reporting can be done based on the 3D Secure status N (Failed) and R (Rejected).
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