HAITI: Credit Card Fraud Prevention Tips in a Digital Age

The Evolving Landscape of Digital Payments

As Haiti’s digital payments landscape continues to evolve, businesses must stay ahead of the game by implementing effective credit card fraud prevention strategies. With the rise of online transactions and cashless payments, fraudsters are increasingly using sophisticated techniques to commit crimes. To protect your business from financial losses and reputational damage, it’s essential to understand the types of fraud that exist and how to prevent them.

Common Types of Fraud

One common type of fraud is Card-Not-Present (CNP) payment fraud, which occurs when a buyer makes an online or telephone transaction without physically presenting their card. This type of fraud is challenging to detect and prevent, as fraudsters use stolen or purchased card details to make purchases on unsuspecting merchants’ websites.

Combating CNP Fraud

To combat CNP fraud, businesses must be vigilant and look for anomalies in their transactions:

• An increase in credit card declines can indicate that fraud may be occurring
• Data collection is key to effective fraud management
• Ensure you are collecting the right information to distinguish genuine shoppers from anomalies, such as:
  • Email and IP address tracking

Effective Fraud Gatekeeping

Adequate controls at account validation are also crucial in preventing fraud. Effective fraud gatekeeping at the point of entry will reduce the cost of downstream fraud mitigation.

Detecting Triangulation Fraud

Triangulation fraud, which involves a fraudster intervening in the ecommerce buying process, is another type of fraud that businesses must be aware of. To detect triangulation fraud:

• Leverage basket data insights and review analytics for items that fraudsters are repeatedly purchasing
• Refine your fraud rules and set a stricter threshold for goods with higher resale value

Addressing First-Party Fraud

First-party fraud, which consists of legitimate online purchases disputed by cardholders, is another type of fraud that businesses must address. Visa has introduced new compelling evidence rules to help merchants better fight first-party fraud.

• Keep meticulous transaction records
• Submit compelling evidence to contest chargebacks
• Reduce the risk of financial losses

Identifying Repeat Offenders

Identifying customers engaging in first-party misuse is also critical in preventing repeat offenders. By investing in the right financial technology and staying up-to-date with the latest fraud prevention techniques, businesses can detect and prevent fraud attacks.

Resources for Fraud Prevention

The Merchant Risk Council (MRC) is a global community of payments and fraud prevention experts that provides valuable resources for businesses looking to improve their fraud prevention strategies. Joining or working with an MRC member can provide access to:

• Benchmarking reports
• Whitepapers
• Presentations
• Webinars
• In-person conferences and virtual summits

Staying Ahead of the Game

Fighting fraud requires a nuanced approach that balances risk and maximizes revenue. By staying educated on the latest fraud prevention techniques and investing in the right technology, businesses can protect their customers and reputations while maintaining profitability.

Next Steps

In part two of our fraud prevention blog series, we will explore the importance of being proactive and collaborative to make the payment environment safer for everyone. In part three, we will examine the metrics to monitor to determine if your fraud strategies are effective.