Protect Your Business from Fraud

One of the biggest ways for your business to lose money is to not work to fight real and friendly fraud.

If you do not keep them under control, your business will be looking at a lot of chargebacks, which is when a card issuer requires a merchant refund a disputed or fraudulent transaction. Too many chargebacks will not only negatively impact your business’ future, but it can force a merchant service provider to stop your ability to accept and process debit and credit cards. Businesses with excessive chargebacks can have their merchant accounts terminated. It also could have you paying higher fees and rates to process cards. With all of these looming consequences, find out what you can do to prevent them.

What Is Real Fraud and Friendly Fraud

Most chargebacks are from criminal fraud and friendly fraud. Criminal fraud is when a person makes an unauthorized purchase or something is bought with a stolen credit card. Friendly fraud is when a consumer has buyer’s remorse or claims a product or service was not received to avoid paying for it.

Ways to Limit Fraud

Mobile and online businesses, high-risk merchants, and others are especially susceptible to fraud, which means they need to take whatever action possible to prevent it. Here are some steps that can be taken:

• Ask for All Credit Card Information: Have consumers submit full names, addresses, and their cards’ expiration dates, as well as the security codes on the back of their cards, to ensure it is legitimate.
• Have a Valid Return and Refund Policy and Make Sure Customers Know It and Understand It: Consider including your refund and return policies in the same email that confirms a purchase or offers updates about shipping to a customer. This way customers know how to proceed if they need to make a return or exchange or want a full refund.
• Know What Fraud Looks Like: Shipping and billing addresses that don’t match are red flags. These are signs that purchases may be being made with stolen credit cards.
• Maintain Detailed, Accurate Records of Your Customers’ Shopping Behaviors: Keep records of customers’ purchase dates, amounts, and authorization data. By maintaining these records, you can use them to compare against future transactions. For example, if a consumer goes from making a $75 purchase every other month to charging $500 a couple of times per week, this is something that should be looked at closer. Organizing and reviewing your customers’ buying habits is one of the most effective ways of catching on to fraud.

The Final Thought

Reducing fraud is essential to keeping your business in a good place. Combating fraud keeps cash flows strong and allows you to remain focused on your inventory and the customer experience. With the right solutions in place, you can put your business in the best possible position.

Getting chargeback insurance is one way to protect your business. It protects a business if a transaction was made via an unauthorized credit card. Another option that is proven effective a chargeback mitigation program.

When you are looking for a merchant account provider that takes chargebacks seriously, then turn to eMerchantBroker.com (EMB). It offers a chargeback mitigation alert system, Chargeback Shield, that can help you reduce chargebacks by 25%. By partnering with Verifi, its Cardholder Dispute Resolution Network (CDRN), and Ethoca’s alert system, EMB has been able to offer an alert system that allows businesses to resolve credit card transaction disputes directly.

If you are looking for a processor that will help you trim down your chargeback ratios, then consider EMB. It specializes in working with high-risk merchants, and it makes the merchant account process simple and fast. Apply online today.
*Chargeback Shield is not an insurance service. EMB does not sell insurance and Chargeback Shield is not insurance; it is an alert system.