The strong association of APOBEC3 cytidine deaminases with somatic mutations leading to cancers accentuates the importance of their tight intracellular regulation to minimize cellular transformations. We reveal a novel allosteric regulatory mechanism of APOBEC3 enzymes showing that APOBEC3G and APOBEC3A coordination of a secondary zinc ion, reminiscent to ancestral deoxycytidylate deaminases, enhances deamination activity. Zinc binding is pinpointed to loop-3 which whilst highly variable harbors a catalytically essential and spatially conserved asparagine at its N-terminus. We suggest that loop-3 may play a general role in allosterically tuning the activity of zinc-dependent cytidine deaminase family members.