Verifi announced today that it secured the Platinum Sponsor position at the MRC 2015 US Platinum Meeting taking place in New Orleans from September 21-23, 2015.
MRC’s 2015 US Platinum Meeting is the premiere regional event for merchants, by merchants. This year’s sessions touch on some of the key issues in today’s payments risk management industry, including eCommerce fraud prevention in the new EMV world, mobile wallets, chargebacks post EMV, reward program fraud and countermeasures and building vs buying fraud solutions to name a few.
To register for one of the MRC 2015 Platinum Meeting, visit: https://nola.mrcevents.org/ehome/index.php?eventid=130432&.
Merchants are hit with fines and fees, extra labor costs, loss of goods/services and even the potential loss of processing privileges.
Issuers assume additional customer support costs as managing cardholder disputes costs time and money.[2]
Consumers even feel the pain with increased fees, more friction in the sales process due to increased fraud prevention measures and, ultimately, increased prices.
How to fix the problem? The answer: improve merchant/issuer collaboration to preserve the customer experience and foster healthier bottom lines. [1] Aite Group Research, 2015. [2] https://www.aciworldwide.com/-/media/files/collateral/automating-your-dispute-management-process-tl-a4-5234-1213.pdf
Take a look at Matthew Katz’s recent Payments Week article titled “Five Months and Counting to EMV Deadline – The State of Industry Compliance & Are you Ready”. The EMV fraud liability shift will happen October 1, 2015, but many merchants are unprepared.
EMV Compliance is looming. Find out how education, prep and a comprehensive fraud strategy are key to success and why a comprehensive & balanced fraud prevention strategy is critical to protect profits from fraudsters who will infiltrate the CNP channel in the foreseeable future.
Each month, we’ll help you navigate the emerging trends and forecasts for card-not-present (CNP) merchants with (what we think) are the best pieces of advice from Verifi and across the web. We promise to keep this newsletter short and sweet so let’s get started! Q>What will the next big payments buzz be after mobile and how do I ensure that I have a solid payment processing foundation that can accommodate security and compliance requirements while remaining agile enough for emerging technologies and threats?
This month we look at the next new “shiny” objects that will impact the payments ecosystem. As the landscape continues to evolve, we’ll see new opportunities that allow merchants to sell on different platforms and gadgets. This newsletter looks at emerging payments opportunities as well as the related obstacles and threats that accompanying them.
INTERNET OF THINGS AND BIG DATA
Web-connected gadgets like t.v.s and watches are the next big buzz in emerging payments as the Internet of Things (IoT) opens the door to new payment methods for consumers. It also opens up new opportunities for companies to gather valuable information on consumers – opportunities that consumers will not necessarily be opposed to as it increases convenience.
Gartner expects the Internet of Things installed base will grow by 2020 to include 26 billion units, generating $1.9 trillion. This poses big changes – and potential sales growth – to retailers who have an agile payment processing operation that can process payments today with flexibility to adapt to the requirements of tomorrow. The mainstream success of payments through IoT will require partnerships across the value chain, a reasonable method of integration, and most importantly – security. By securing transaction data with tokenization, encryption, POS device management and the ability to segment transaction data to route to a card processor and/or the merchant, merchants and developers of this technology can engage consumers who feel comfortable and safe making payments through everyday things. Merchants should evaluate their payment processing platform now to ensure they have all they need today to navigate they payments landscape of tomorrow.
Chargeback management is not a one-size-fits all operation. While there are best practices that merchants can implement to minimize and prevent chargebacks, a customized approach is most effective. And while chargeback prevention is key to protecting revenue from true and friendly fraud, chargeback representment and profit recovery is equally important.
Whether you opt to handle chargebacks in house, or retain the services of a third-party vendor, a multi-layered security and fraud prevention strategy can make or break your business. Here are some other resources to make sure you’re poised to fight fraud along every step of the transaction lifecycle:
As emerging technologies and new sales opportunities come to light, merchants need to prepare and adapt internal processes to meet the changing payments landscape head-on. A multi-layered security and fraud prevention strategy is the best bet. A flexible, customizable payment gateway can serve as an ideal foundation upon which this type of layered strategy can be built. Sales opportunities and fraud are both dynamic – is your payment processing gateway?
CNP merchants need a flexible gateway partner to streamline payments and adapt to the changing landscape. The shift to EMV and the need for optimized loyalty programs call for multi-layered fraud prevention tools that can be tested, toggled and supported by reporting that provides deep insights into different market segments. Verifi’s Global Payment Gateway,Cardholder Dispute Resolution Network™ (CDRN), Intelligence Suite® and Chargeback Representment (CBR) solutions seamlessly combine (without IT hassles) to form a processor agnostic “Super Gateway” that protects your payments from start to finish while ensuring legitimate sales flow through.
What are your thoughts? Ping us on Twitter (@verifi) with #paymentstips and let us know what you think.
#PaymentsTips
Each month, we’ll help you navigate the emerging trends and forecasts for card-not-present (CNP) merchants with (what we think) are the best pieces of advice from Verifi and across the web. We promise to keep this newsletter short and sweet so let’s get started! Q>EMV, NFC and other emerging technologies are creating new and sometimes unforeseen obstacles for merchants processing CNP payments. How can I choose a gateway partner and implement multi-layered authentication to help protect payments before and after EMV and as NFC and other technologies – and fraudsters – evolve?
This month’s newsletter looks at the current state of the industry particularly as it relates to EMV, provides tips on preparing for the liability shift in October, explains the importance of multi-layered authentication and identifies key capabilities to look for in a gateway partner to ensure your business can rise to today’s processing challenges – and tomorrow’s. EMV NOT A BE-ALL AND END-ALL SOLUTION
The EMV fraud liability shift will happen on October 1 of this year, though many merchants are finding themselves unprepared. In fact, Forrester Research is forecasting that widespread adoption of the technology won’t occur until 2020. The technology will virtually eliminate skimming fraud, but experts warn that merchants should not consider chip & PIN the be-all and end-all when it comes to deterring other fraud threats like data breaches. Fraudsters will still be able to copy data and create counterfeit mag-stripe cards that will be accepted at any mag-stripe terminal or use counterfeit or stolen card information in CNP transactions.
As EMV pushes fraud online, tokenization, encryption and multi-layered authentication will be key. When the entire payment ecosystem implements tokenization, the payment infrastructure as a whole becomes more secure. EMVCo published version 1.0 of its tokenization specification in March of last year and various token services have been created based on this standard. Tokenized payment data has the potential to reduce data protection requirements for merchants because it strongly inhibits fraudsters from accessing sensitive data. CHOOSING A GATEWAY PARTNER Mobile commerce topped out at almost $204 billion in global revenue in 2014, and that number is expected to rise to $626 billion by 2018. The convenience of mobile wallets has streamlined payments both in-store and online as consumers are no longer forced to enter a 16-digit account number for every purchase. As technologies like Apple Pay make it simple for consumers to shop and swipe, merchants that are compatible with this technology stand to build increased loyalty with their customer base. To do that, merchants need an agile gateway that can optimize omni-channel, facilitate multi-layered authentication, provide in-depth analytics and adapt to tomorrow’s challenges. There are lots of “shiny new objects” available to merchants that promise to improve customer acquisition and boost profits, but without a reliable gateway, merchants face an endless cycle of costly updates and integrations.
This increased mobile adoption will also highlight the need for in-depth analytics and reporting capabilities.Deep insights into consumer behavior enables CNP merchants to optimize ad targeting, emails and personalize offers – all of which contribute to consumer loyalty. The increased security afforded consumers by mobile wallets is contributing to adoption, which is a boon for merchants who can collect advanced data sets and better segment their customer base to provide a one-to-one experience. SMART DEVICES AND MULTI-LAYERED AUTHENTICATION
Almost all single-layer authentication methods are imperfect. Criminals have proven their ability to beat authentication methods like one-time passwords or question series. As EMV approaches and CNP fraud booms, fraudsters are becoming more advanced in their techniques to steal data, making it difficult for merchants to keep up. By implementing the proper combination of fraud protection tools and multi-layered authentication systems, merchants can maintain a secure payment processing operation without going overboard and inhibiting legitimate sales.
Striking the right balance can be difficult, but the adoption of smartphones and mobile wallets that can carry secure credentials has changed that. Merchants today can use converged solutions that utilize device features to authenticate transactions, including device fingerprinting, biometrics, geolocation and tokenization.There are risks and challenges involved in authenticating customers on mobile devices too, including the possibility of stolen or borrowed devices or infected devices. Merchants must employ a balanced approach to authenticating users on mobile devices, no trivial task given the increased popularity of the mobile channel. PARTING WORDS
EMV, NFC, mobile and multi-layered security are each unique topics that are intersecting in payments today. Multi-layered security supported by a solid payment gateway will allow merchants to adapt to the EMV standard while continuing to streamline payments and glean increased sales from omni-channel efforts. Mobile technology is evolving and new technologies will continue to emerge, making it more important than ever for merchants to choose a practical and agile gateway partner as fraudsters become more dynamic.
CNP merchants need a flexible gateway partner to streamline payments and adapt to the changing landscape. The shift to EMV and the need for optimized loyalty programs call for multi-layered fraud prevention tools that can be tested, toggled and supported by reporting that provides deep insights into different market segments. Verifi’s Global Payment Gateway,Decline Salvage,Cardholder Dispute Resolution Network™ (CDRN), Intelligence Suite® and Chargeback Representment (CBR) solutions seamlessly combine (without IT hassles) to form a processor agnostic “Super Gateway” that protects your payments from start to finish while ensuring legitimate sales flow through.
What are your thoughts? Ping us on twitter (@verifi) with #paymentstips and let us know what you think.
Mobile spending is growing
Customers, having experienced the convenience of the internet, are now shopping with zeal on their mobile devices. Mobile spending is growing and expected to reach $300 billion this year. Nearly 500 million consumers are using their mobile phones to make purchases. Whenever smartphone owners have free time they have the option to research and purchase.
In this environment retailers are expected not only to have online shops but also to develop responsive mobile sites or be left behind. And now with mobile wallets, brick-and-mortar stores are expected to accept contactless NFC payments from smartphones. Mobile commerce could be an effective and efficient win-win for customers and businesses, but this is not always the case due to fraud, which ultimately costs both payers and payees.
Our CEO, Matthew Katz recently wrote a new featured article “Fighting Mobile Fraud” on TMCNet’s Mobile Commerce Insider. In the article, he first presents an overview of the growth of mobile payments before stating that companies often choose to accept mobile payments in order to increase sales and leads. He then explains that companies often forget about fighting mobile channel risk. Following this, he addresses prevalent fraud problems with Verifi’s solutions. From these insights he explains the benefits of a layered approach to mobile payment protection.
Click here to see the article here.
#PaymentsTips
Each month, we’ll help you navigate the emerging trends and forecasts for card-not-present (CNP) merchants with (what we think) are the best pieces of advice from Verifi and across the web. We promise to keep this newsletter short and sweet so let’s get started! Q>Omni-channel brings lots of opportunity…and lots of risk. How do I protect payments across channels, stop chargebacks from taking a bite out of revenue and stop losing customers to unnecessary card declines?
We’ve been harping on the omni-channel topic for months now, but it’s not going to stop anytime soon. Omni-channel will continue to grow as consumers get comfortable with different ways of shopping and paying. Consumers will communicate those preferences with their wallets, so merchants have two choices: adapt and thrive or remain stagnant and suffer significant losses. There are two main tenets to implementing a strong omni-channel strategy: preventing fraud – namely chargebacks – and finding innovative ways to boost retention and profits through personalization and loyalty. This month’s newsletter provides helpful tips on identifying fraud and stopping chargebacks BEFORE they happen. We’ll also look at ways to use payments protection to beef up your bottom line through innovative loyalty programs that utilize omni-channel advances and mobile wallets. MOBILE POISED TO SLINGSHOT LOYALTY…AND VICE VERSA
Consumers have signaled that they’re interested in receiving deals and discounts on their phones, a preference that is tied to the forecast that mobile phones will continue to gain popularity as a means of payment. Finding a way to integrate mobile wallets into loyalty programs is a significant hurdle many businesses face, but doing so will be essential if merchants want to break away from the pack and stand out against the competition. As loyalty continues to evolve, merchants with omni-channel and mobile strategies that utilize deep insights to engage consumers in a highly personalized way stand to boost rentention and profits significantly. For more background on the intersection of mobile and loyalty, consider these additional resources:
Loyalty could be a key driver to mobile wallet adoption
Leveraging consumer loyalty to drive mobile payments adoption
QUICK FIX: HOW TO STOP CHARGEBACK FRAUD BEFORE IT STOPS YOU
Keeping up with emerging technologies while lowering operating costs in the fight against chargeback fraud is difficult. By working directly with Issuers, merchants can tackle this $40 billion chargeback problem in a big way – reclaiming revenue that would have otherwise been lost while ensuring that good sales continue to flow through.
In addition to utilizing a merchant-Issuer collaboration solution, there are several telltale signs that merchants should look out for when it comes to fraudulent orders.
Putting an immediate stop to chargebacks can significantly impact your bottom line. There are a number of proactive things merchants can do to protect their payments and boost profits:
Prevent and fight chargebacks without negatively impacting customer experience
LOYALTY MATTERS TO ISSUERS, TOO
The need for a personalized loyalty experience is not confined to merchants only. Issuers should strive for this same type of one-on-one engagement with customers. A cohesive omni-channel strategy that utilizes big data can help merchants acquire new customers but also gain loyalty with existing customers and boost retention. GROWING IMPORTANCE OF SMARTPHONES IN COMMERCE
According to experts who see room to grow in the physical store with things like how-to videos, product comparison tools and bar code scanner mobile apps, mobile in-store is the next big thing in mobile commerce. Smartphone technology is certainly pushing the envelope in emerging commerce trends, which is why it’s important for merchants to be aware of the risks in the mobile channel and to know what tools to use to prevent mobile fraud.
Chargeback prevention is the most reliable way to safeguard your transactions, profits and customers from fraud while allowing legitimate sales to continue to pass through. Since chargebacks drain so much time, resources and focus from your business, your #1 charge as a merchant should be to stop them dead in their tracks.
Get real about the serious chargeback problem – it’s costing you $40 billion. PARTING WORDS
It’s no secret that omni-channel and loyalty go hand-in-hand. A solid omni-channel strategy is key to implementing a successful loyalty program. The best place to start with this is in the mobile channel. The success of both mobile payments and loyalty programs will likely prove to be tightly coupled. Mobile technology is continuing to change how consumers make payments and merchants can piggyback on the popularity of mobile to execute loyalty programs that consumers are willing to engage with. Mobile payments will continue to influence the payments landscape, including how consumers interact with brands. Ensuring a safe, secure and streamlined payment experience will be the top task for merchants who want to boost payments and retain loyal customers.
Successful loyalty and omni-channel execution requires a comprehensive payment processing operation. Consumers have spoken and security is the name of the game. Merchants need to focus on a fraud and risk mitigation strategy that protects payments, boosts profits and improves billings and customer retention. Verifi’s Global Payment Gateway,Decline Salvage,Cardholder Dispute Resolution Network™ (CDRN) and Chargeback Representment (CBR) seamlessly combine (without IT hassles) to form a processor agnostic “Super Gateway” that protects your payments from start to finish while ensuring good sales flow through.
What are your thoughts? Ping us on twitter (@verifi) with #paymentstips and let us know what you think.
As commerce continues to evolve and the lines are blurred between card-present and card-not-present commerce, how can merchants implement an effective, omni-channel-friendly loyalty program to boost retention and profits?
According to a 2015 loyalty census by COLLOQUY, U.S. consumers hold 3.3 billion memberships in customer loyalty programs, up 26% from a study done in 2013. The majority of these memberships are held through credit card rewards programs, closely followed by specialty stores (think Best Buy, Container Store, etc.), which account for 434 million memberships. Part of the reason behind the success of specialty store loyalty programs is that these merchants provide niche goods and services with deep selections. One might argue that personalization is inherent with merchants like these because of the nature of their business model, which may signal why the loyalty programs they offer are so popular. Customization – specifically as it relates to loyalty – is a growing trend that will continue in commerce as consumers hone their preferences and make them known with their pocketbooks.
This month, we searched for insight from the experts on how merchants can use their loyalty program to boost retention, maximize consumer engagement and boost profits. Here is what several sources are saying: Points-for-purchase is obsolete.Rewarding consumers with points for making a purchase is no longer good enough. Loyalty will expand beyond that concept and force merchants to find ways to enrich the shopping experience and make it memorable. Points do not intrigue or engage the customer the way that they used to and merchants must find other ways to incentivize shoppers, which may include customized perks, fun ways to engage with the brand or earn rewards (other than purchasing), and personalized offers.
Social networks leveraged as shopping platforms. Social media has been largely tapped for marketing purposes, engaging with customers and aiding consumers in purchase decisions. In 2015, it’s predicted that social media will also be leveraged as a selling platform. We’ve already seen some of this come to fruition with Facebook and Twitter’s “buy” buttons and this trend will likely expand to other sites throughout the remainder of this year and into next.
Smartphone & mobile wallet penetration will be critical to the omni-channel movement. The prevalence of smartphones and the increasing popularity in mobile wallets is bolstering the omni-channel movement: about 5% of smartphones will be used to make an in-store purchase at least once per month globally this year (a 1,000% increase over last year).[1] Mobile solidified its place in commerce in Q4 of last year with 25.8% of global online transactions occurring on a mobile device (an 11% increase over the previous quarter).[2] Given this traction, NFC and other contactless technologies are forecasted to account for US$64 billion in transaction value in 2017.[3]
Want to re-invent your loyalty program to boost retention but don’t know where to start? Verifi can help you stabilize and streamline your payment processing operation so that you can attract new customers while retaining your happy, loyal customers. Our “Super” Gateway is processor-agnostic and plugs in easily with our best-in-breed payments protection tools to provide a streamlined, end-to-end experience. The Gateway works seamlessly with Intelligence® Suite,Cardholder Dispute Resolution Network™ (CDRN) and Chargeback Representment (CBR) to protect your payments across the entire transaction lifecycle. The Gateway also integrates easily with Decline Salvage to ensure that you don’t lose your loyal customers to unnecessary declines. The “Super Gateway” provides omni-channel, end-to-end payments protection with customizable fraud tools, Total Chargeback Management and the ability to improve authorizations by up to 20%. Contact us to find out how to secure your payments from end-to-end while maintaining a superior customer experience. What are your thoughts? Ping us on twitter (@verifi) with #paymentstips and let us know what you think. [1] https://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/mobile-payments-tipping-point-comes-in-2015-deloitte-predicts-1.2898942 [2] https://www.mobilepaymentstoday.com/news/report-mobile-accounts-for-25-percent-of-online-transactions-in-q4-2014/ [3] https://www.statista.com/statistics/244475/proximity-mobile-payment-transaction-value-in-the-united-states/
Get the whitepaper and learn more about our award-winning solutions to help you prevent chargebacks with no IT pain and complete accuracy….ZERO DEFECT GUARANTEE
Chargebacks occur when a cardholder disputes a merchant charge, resulting in a debit to the retailer’s account. Regardless of whether or not the chargeback is successful, the merchant is charged a fee by the issuing bank. Merchants with a high ratio of chargebacks to transactions may also receive additional fines and or run the risk of losing their payment processing privileges altogether.
Chargebacks are costing your online business many thousands or millions of dollars each month. How much of your revenue is at risk and are you doing everything you can to prevent chargebacks?
According to the JP Morgan 2012 Online Fraud Report, merchants reported losing an average of $3.4 billion to online fraud. Chargebacks account for about 41% of those losses.
While chargebacks are costly and painful, it is possible to prevent chargebacks by improving your internal processes.
In addition, Verifi’s innovative Cardholder Dispute Resolution Network™ (CDRN) is a patented and award-winning chargeback management program that protects your payments and helps prevent chargebacks:
Extensive and Growing Partner Network of Top Card Issuers– Stops up to 40%* of your chargebacks
Protect Your Bottom Line– Avoid costly fees, fines and penalties…and potential loss of your processing privileges
Complete Coverage– Prevents BOTH fraud and non-fraud chargebacks
Avoid “False Positives”– Some solutions create dispute signals that don’t turn into actual chargebacks, adding costs for protection that you don’t need
Real Time Notifications Stop Losses– Prevent chargebacks from additional billings and stop losses from fulfillment of goods and services
Improve Staff Allocation– CDRN takes the burden off your staff so you save time to focus on your business
100% Accuracy– With Verifi’s zero defect guarantee if a CDRN case is successfully resolved but later filed as a chargeback, YOU DON’T PAY
While chargebacks cannot be entirely eliminated, they can be managed effectively. The chargeback process allows for merchants to prevent (represent and dispute) chargebacks they believe are fraudulent or inappropriate by presenting compelling evidence to the issuing bank that proves the chargeback should be reversed. CDRN‘s patented, “closed loop” process redirects disputes from the Issuer to you, so you can respond and resolve the issue quickly and directly with the Issuer.
Whether you stop fulfillment of goods or services, provide a refund, or take no action and accept the chargeback risk, you are always in control. Let us show you how CDRN can help you prevent chargebacks, get the whitepaper today.
Credit card-savvy customers and stopping chargebacks
The most at risk for chargebacks are subscription merchants. Cardholders often forget about recurring subscriptions then initiate chargebacks in hopes of regaining subscription fees.
Since credit card-savvy customers can dispute charges in real-time, merchants need to be proactive about preventing chargebacks. Still, some chargebacks are caused by the avoidable problem of unclear billing descriptors. As Verifi’s Senior Vice President Tony Wootton said in an interview by The Green Sheet, “I don’t even recognize 25 percent of [legitimate] charges when I quickly glance at a descriptor.”
A billing descriptor appears on a customer’s bank or credit card statement next to the amount of the charge. The typical billing billing descriptor has space for 25 letters and a phone number. A good billing descriptor quickly reminds a customer of the merchant’s name, the details of their purchase, and a phone number to contact the merchant about the charge. While the default billing descriptor may display the registered name of the company, the merchant’s name on the descriptor should be the DBA name used in advertising or an abbreviation for it. A customer is less likely to initiate a chargeback if he or she recognizes the charge on his statement and can easily contact the merchant through the phone number on the billing descriptor.
Sending banks clear billing descriptors is only one way merchants can stop chargebacks. All types of merchants can improve customer service, share blacklist databases, use card issuer’s security features, and when a purchase is heading toward a chargeback, setup chargeback alerts. Chargebacks alerts allow merchants to recover chargebacks with the cardholder directly.
