Use a Multi-Layer Approach to Fraud Management

Fraud is never a straightforward issue that works in just one way. Thieves use any number of tactics to get access to information they shouldn’t have. That means your business needs to employ multiple methods to prevent fraud from happening along with maintaining flexibility to combat the ever-changing world of theft. When fraud happens to your business, you lose money and merchandise along with the fees for the transaction. Adopting a multi-layer approach against theft is your best bet to keep legitimate customers happy and loss to a minimum.

Why Use a Multi-Layer Approach?

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Ask yourself how you’re defending your business against fraudulent credit card transactions. If you find that the only theft prevention measure you’re using is relying on the fraud detection programs working as planned when running a card, you need more protection. It doesn’t matter if you’re using a low-risk or high-risk merchant account for your credit card processing. Merchant account processing systems don’t always catch stolen cards due to the sophisticated measures thieves take to avoid detection.

If your business sells a product that attracts a larger-than-average amount of fraud, you need to protect yourself and your product. And with the migration to EMV chips which don’t work for online transactions, it’s not enough to rely on the honesty of the person on the other side of the screen or phone. There needs to be more than one method of verification to make sure the cardholder is who they say they are.

What Methods Should You Use?

There are quite a few options available to you, the seller, that further secure the initial transaction and verify any subsequent chargebacks. Which methods you use depends on what works best for your business. The goal is to keep the sale as trouble-free as possible for your customer. Options include:

• 3D Secure. This is a PIN system that is used in addition to the CVV. The customer has to opt into the 3D Secure protocol to use it. You have the opportunity to facilitate the 3D Secure customer by offering it on your payment page or when taking an order over the phone.
• Fraud tools that analyze card data during the transaction. These products get attached to the current credit card processing system and analyze credit card data as it’s transacted. It alerts the merchant if the card is considered stolen and lets the merchant make an investigation into the sale.
• Tokenization. This is a process in which the card number gets turned into a “token” that’s used for that transaction only. Neither the merchant or customer has to do anything as the information gets sent to the processor who then sends a token to the seller to authorize the sale.
• Measures to counteract chargeback fraud. Options range from software that analyzes chargeback data for potential “friendly fraud” to formal chargeback representation.

These are just some of the ways to add theft-prevention systems to your existing credit card processing routines. A flexible, multi-layer approach will ensure seamless transactions for your customers while protecting your business.