A payment network server for processing an electronic commerce (e-commerce) transaction initiated by a customer is described. The server comprises at least a computer processor and a data storage device, where the data storage device comprises instructions operative by the processor to: (i) receive, from a merchant server, an authentication request, the authentication request comprising at least a payment card identifier associated with a payment card; (ii) generate an authentication code associated with the e-commerce transaction for authenticating the customer; (iii) store, in a payment network database, the authentication code as a stored authentication code; (iv) transmit, the authentication code for transmission to the customer and an indication of the payment card to an issuer server; (v) receive, from the merchant server, a customer entered authentication code which was entered by the customer into a merchant website associated with the merchant server; (vi) determine if the customer entered authentication code matches the stored authentication code; if the customer entered authentication code matches the stored authentication code: (vii) generate an authentication indication; (viii) store, in the payment network database, the authentication indication as a stored authentication indication; and (ix) transmit, to the merchant server, an authentication response comprising the authentication indication.