Prevent unauthorized transactions with payment fraud detection

Payment fraud happens when a fraudster obtains unauthorized access to payment details and makes purchases online. Often, fraudsters buy stolen card numbers on the dark web or hack into customer accounts to steal payment info.

Generally, our solutions are billed on a per-interaction basis. Check out our pricing page for more information.

One thing to keep in mind when shopping for fraud protection software is that you’re making an investment for your business. So you want to make sure you get the best value for your money without sacrificing quality. 

Keep in mind that a chargeback guarantee or a chargeback insurance plan might seem like an effective, economic way to protect your business. But that’s not always the case. Make sure you understand what is and isn't covered. Usually, long-term success is sacrificed for quick wins and temporary gains.

Building a fraud solution on your own is no easy task. It’s possible to do, but it takes time, resources, and money. Plus, once you have a solution built, you still have to maintain the system by continually updating the software. 

In general, it can be a lot more expensive to build an in-house solution than to buy a pre-built one from a fraud provider and personalize it to your business. 

Not to mention there are additional benefits to working with a provider — such as continual support and guidance from experts, software updates, data networks, and more.

Let’s be honest: no tech-driven process is perfect. From a mobile app that glitches to a refrigerator that dies in the middle of the night, we’ve probably all experienced undesirable outcomes of one kind or another. 

And fraud technology is no exception. There is a risk of false positives — which means legitimate transactions are falsely classified as fraud. However, at Kount, the risk is very small. Our margin of error is less than a fraction of a percent. We do everything in our power to make sure you are blocking real fraudsters without jeopardizing sales from good customers. 

While the risk of false positives is very low at Kount, that’s not the case for all fraud detection systems. If you are shopping for a new solution, you’ll want to critique the six elements that influence accuracy the most: 

1. Historical data: How long has the service provider been in business? How much data is in the database? Are decisions based on a couple years’ of insights? Or has intelligence been gathering for decades?  
2. Machine learning: Is machine learning a part of the technology? How many different types are used? Will you have the most basic capabilities? Or is the technology more advanced?  
3. Experience: Does the team have enough experience? Will you have access to experts who can help you create an effective strategy? Or will you be left to figure everything out on your own?
4. Client involvement: Does the technology automate everything without your input? Is it a one-size-fits-all black box? Or can you customize the technology to fit your unique needs?
5. Timeliness: How long does it take for changes to be made? Will you have to suffer bad results for days before the problem can be fixed? Or does the technology operate in real time?
6. Negative-event data: Will the technology know about past bad behavior — like chargebacks and excessive returns? Or does it assume threats only come from fraudsters? 

Click here to see how Kount ranks in all six areas. 

Even though technology can make mistakes from time to time, it is still far more accurate than manual processes — for a variety of reasons. 

• Technology offers never-ending protection — even when employees are out of the office. 
• Technology acts on facts, not subjective biases, assumptions, or opinions. 
• Technology can detect patterns and trends unidentified by the human eye. 

Bottom line: there are drawbacks to any fraud management strategy, but technology is the safest, most accurate, and most efficient option available.

In addition to investing in a full fraud solution, there are some things you can do to add security to your site. These steps can help identify fraudulent activity and mitigate unauthorized purchases.

You can add web security protocols such as firewalls to monitor the traffic on your site. Firewalls can help block traffic from bots that can perform a card testing attack. 

You can also add authentication tools like CAPTCHAs during checkout to verify that users interacting with your site are actual humans.

Additionally, you can invest in verification tools like 3D Secure or address verification service (AVS) that will help verify that your customers are who they say they are. And requesting the card verification value (CVV) during checkout helps confirm the shopper has possession of the physical payment card.