UTP Shield is saving businesses in the UK from payment and eCommerce fraud

Posted by UTP Merchant Services Ltd on December 8th, 2023

UTP Shield is saving businesses in the UK from payment and eCommerce fraud

Last year, the UK lost over £556 million due to credit and debit card fraud. This accounted for 45% of the total financial fraud losses. November and December saw a huge increase in attempted and successful fraudulent activity. Criminals capitalise on Black Friday, Cyber Monday and Christmas sales. Fraudulent activity can happen both in-store and online, and any business can be a victim.

If your business takes payments directly from customers, either for retail purchases or services, you definitely need a card machine for business. Customers of UTP receive free enhanced fraud protection all year round. UTP Shield helps protect customers from both potential fraud and chargebacks. Their accurate service detects potential fraud both in-store and online, 24/7.

Protect your business from payment fraud

Payment fraud is where fraudsters complete a transaction with a stolen or unauthorised card. This can happen both in store and online. In these situations, the cardholder is not liable for fraudulent activity. A card dispute can result in the business facing a chargeback. This is where the business is liable to pay back the customer for the fraudulent transaction. The business may also have to pay fees to the merchant account provider. These fees can add up and decrease the business profits.

Businesses of all sizes can be targets for fraudsters. The easiest targets are businesses who are not PCI DSS compliant. PCI DSS stands for Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard. It reduces fraud by increasing security controls surrounding cardholder data. Card payment solutions delivered by UTP include a full maintenance support package. UTP assists businesses who are not PCI DSS compliant, ensuring they reach industry standards.

UTP Shield works by creating a detailed understanding of the customer's business. This includes the normal trading hours and the most common payment methods. The software then flags any suspicious activity and notifies the business owner. Our software is highly accurate and is able to pick up suspicious activity. For example, a business put through a much higher transaction than average. If the person had paid using a chip and PIN, this would be a 'Low Level Threat'. In this situation, we would email the business and ask them to review the transaction.

How does UTP Shield protect against eCommerce fraud?

In the last two years, the UK lost over £625 million due to eCommerce fraud. TransUnion found that one in six eCommerce transactions were fraudulent. This increases to one in five during the Christmas season.

Online shopping opens a whole new world for fraudsters to operate in. It's easier to find targets, easier to hide and due to international borders, easier to get away with it. UTP Shield creates a portfolio of a site's average buyer. Any transactions out of the ordinary will be flagged, and the business owner will get an alert. This includes excessive purchases and transactions from unrecognized countries. UTP Shield alerts the business owner and the transaction is up to their discretion.

What is a chargeback?

Chargeback fraud, which is otherwise known as 'friendly fraud', hurts businesses the most. eCommerce stores worldwide lost 5 billion due to chargeback fraud in 2021. Chargebacks happen when a customer requests an unwarranted refund from the bank. For example, a customer orders and receives a product, yet claims the order never arrived. The fraudster then goes to their bank, rather than the business, and raises a chargeback case. The bank will reverse the charge and deduct the amount from the business' account. The businesses will then have to send over supporting documents and prove the chargeback was unnecessary. Chargebacks are difficult to defend when the cardholder is not present.

Businesses only have a 20% chance of winning a chargeback dispute. UTP Director of Sales, Jaime Lowe explains ’We’re very proud of the level of security we offer our customers. UTP Shield detects transactions that carry a high chargeback risk. These chargebacks often come with orders made online and over the phone.

When Shield detects a suspicious transaction, we inform our customers by email and by text. We explain why the transaction triggered our software. The transaction amount, country of origin and card issuer are all shown to the customer. This then puts the businesses in control as they can see if they want to accept or not.