# 3rd Party Authentication for Secure Card on File
source: https://developer.mastercard.com/mastercard-checkout-solutions/tutorial/3rdparty_authentication_scof/index.md

Learn about the steps to perform 3rd party authentication through an Authenticating Entity for Secure Card on File.

## Participants and Interactions {#participants-and-interactions}

![How it works-TAF](https://static.developer.mastercard.com/content/mastercard-checkout-solutions/documentation/images/taf_participants_and_interactions_7.png "How it works-TAF")

|                Participant                |                                                                                                                                                                                  Description                                                                                                                                                                                   |                   Participant Examples                    |
|-------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------|
| **Consumer**                              | * Undergoes authentication using a Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) method used by Authenticating Entity to complete checkout. * Uses user-friendly authentication mechanisms, such as a device unlock mechanism which is used as part of the MFA solution (device possession factor, and knowledge or inherence factor).                                                     | Cardholder                                                |
| **Integrator**                            | * Identifies if the PAN is eligible for MFA. * Initiates issuer cardholder authentication. * Initiates the bind request to bind successfully authenticated cards to a MFA instance. * Perform checkout after successful MFA authentication. * An Integrator may also be an Authenticating Entity.                                                                              | * Merchants * PSPs * Commerce Platforms * Payment Gateway |
| **Authenticating Entity**                 | * Uses a Mastercard-approved Multi-factor Authentication (**MFA**) method to verify a person as an authorized cardholder in a remote commerce token transaction. * Must select an MFA method compliant with the requirements defined in Section 4.10 of the *Mastercard Security Rules and Procedures*.                                                                        | * Merchants * PSPs * Commerce Platforms * Payment Gateway |
| **Mastercard** **Checkout** **Solutions** | * Serves as an intermediate between the Integrators and Issuers to offer Token Authentication Framework. * Tokenizes transaction credentials, facilitates cardholder authentication and sends back an encrypted payload containing the token and cryptogram. * Prepares the list of Mastercard-approved Authenticating Entities and Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) methods. | Mastercard                                                |
| **Issuer**                                | * Accesses the authentication results of the MFA method implemented by the Authenticating Entity. * Presents the challenge on the Authentication UI for the cardholder to complete. * Must be able to receive remote commerce token transactions, in which their cardholders have been authenticated by an Authenticating Entity, using a MFA method.                          | Issuers                                                   |

## Use Cases {#use-cases}

|                                                                                        Use Case                                                                                         |                                                                                       Description                                                                                        |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| [Check MFA Eligibility for PANs](https://developer.mastercard.com/mastercard-checkout-solutions/tutorial/3rdparty_authentication_scof/step1/index.md)                                   | Check if a PAN is eligible for Multi-factor Authentication (MFA) and merchant fraud liability protection (FLP) during card enrollment.                                                   |
| [Cardholder Authentication using Identity \& Verification (ID\&V)](https://developer.mastercard.com/mastercard-checkout-solutions/tutorial/3rdparty_authentication_scof/step2/index.md) | Validate the cardholder identity for the card stored with the merchant/wallet using Mastercard-supported ID\&V methods.                                                                  |
| [Token Binding \& Unbinding](https://developer.mastercard.com/mastercard-checkout-solutions/tutorial/3rdparty_authentication_scof/step3/index.md)                                       | Create a binding between a token and the MFA method Instance Identifier. You may also delete this binding when a cardholder no longer wants to associate their card with the MFA method. |
| [Making Payments](https://developer.mastercard.com/mastercard-checkout-solutions/tutorial/3rdparty_authentication_scof/step4/index.md)                                                  | Perform checkout with the tokenized card and receive relevant checkout response data depending on whether the authentication was performed using Multi-factor Authentication (MFA).      |