What is multi-factor authentication?

Point of Sale (POS) Glossary

Multi-factor authentication (MFA) is security protection that requires a person to use at least two verification factors before being verified for a resource. MFA might be used to limit access to a point of sale system’s administrative functions or to protect a bank account during online access. Another example is when a debit card requires a PIN to be entered for POS transactions, which is in addition to swiping or inserting the physical card.

Some of the frequently used multi-factor authentication challenges include a combination of smart cards, passwords, text messages to phones, codes sent to an email address, and personal identification numbers. Multi-factor authentication helps cut down on fraud since more than two challenges are necessary to complete the verification, and a criminal may have difficulty securing the additional information needed.