Holiday shopping doesn’t stop after December 25. It goes beyond that as many consumers buy goods post-holiday as well, boosting sales even more.
So while merchants are poised to be on Santa’s good list this year in terms of being profitable, there are still some obstacles they need to overcome, particularly when it comes to online merchants. ACI Worldwide reported that online retail fraud attempts have increased by 30% in the past year. Additionally, fraud rates by volume have increased in 2015 with one out of 86 transactions as a fraudulent attempt vs. one out of 114 transactions in 2014.
What do online merchants need to know so they don’t fall victim to online fraudsters? Here are a few things to take into consideration:
While the EMV liability shift that just took place is expected to help prevent card-present transactions, card-not-present transactions are expected to rise. The reality is chargebacks can typically spike by over 50% during a normal holiday season. With record sales forecasted and fraud and chargebacks migrating to the card-not-present channel post-EMV, merchants will have their work cut out when it comes to protecting payments this holiday season.
Online fraudsters usually don’t tell the truth about their age or where they live. “The United States of Fraud,” a study that examined a year’s worth of data from August 2014 through August this year, found that users identifying in the 85-90 age range are 2.5 times more likely to commit fraud than the average user.
Additionally, Alaska likely ranks as the state with the highest fraud rate based on billing address because it is first in the checkout form drop-down list, the study notes.
Remember, less is more when it comes to storing customer data. Don’t store sensitive customer and transaction data for hackers to find like CVV2 codes.
Pay attention to a single user with multiple identities. Someone with two to four accounts linked to one device can bring up some potential red flags.
In essence, it’s crucial to have fraud prevention tools in place to protect your business, sales and your customers; however, it’s even more critical during the holidays. Creating a multi-layered strategy is key to keeping online fraudsters at bay and preserving bottom lines, fostering customer loyalty and preventing profit losses and data breaches from happening.
Laura Lively is senior manager of credit risk options for Advance Auto.
