PIVEQ is the process patented by iSignthis to verify ownership of a payment instrument.
Payment Instrument Verification (PIV) comes in two key forms - either "divide the numeric value of a transaction into two or more components that sum the original value" or "manipulate the dynamic descriptor to insert a one time challenge". These two approaches create a 'secret' that can only be retrieved by the authorised card or account holder.
PIV - DIV: Divides splits the transaction sum into two sums. The sums can be retrieved from the users bank account.
PIV - EQ: Equation uses an equation to verify the user. It creates a simple equation in the dynamic descriptor text. The text is sent as a message to users phone which they have submitted in their bank.
In both cases, the user must access their account using the credentials issued to them by their card issuer or bank, and retrieve the 'secret' from their online or mobile transaction listing. Upon confirmation of the secret, we have verified the user as being authorised to use that card or account.
PIV-EQ uses an equation in the dynamic descriptor text (text on statement), allowing us to verify the payment instrument with a single message, instead of the multiple messages to be looked up for PIV-DIV.
Implementation wise, this should be an option in PIV settings, allowing either EQ or Divides to be the PIV method.
This way we can combine either with 3DS, to take care of both the merchants that require it and reducing the number of messages we send to the connectors (thus delaying the end-customer's registration process).