Digital fraud has surged across all industries. Perhaps this is due to more people staying at home with more free time, or to more readily available technology to aid in cheating.
The frequency of fraud in market research is estimated to range from the low teens to as high as 30-40 per cent. However, regardless of the frequency of fraud, its impact on data and insights can be disastrous, leading to erroneous insights and poor decision-making.
As technology progresses, the issues associated with fraud grow and evolve. Consumers are concerned about how internet payments are made (and how safe they are). According to a recent survey, while credit and debit cards remain the most common payment methods used by businesses, alternatives such as digital wallets and bank transfers are also on the rise. Notably, 44% of buyers indicated security was the most important consideration in deciding how to pay for online goods.
This is why Interswitch Group, an Africa-focused integrated digital payments and commerce company has deployed new solutions aimed at boosting and protecting the payment ecosystems in Africa.
The company revealed a new Fraud Solution As A Service (FSAAS) at the event to help combat the spread of fraud and build a safer and stronger infrastructure to serve its users better.
Tyoyila Aga the group head of financial services for Interswitch noted at the event that Fraud prevention as a service is a new initiative Interswitch is investing in to be able to serve their Merchants better, “Interswitch partnered with a UK company called Featurespace to build up a system named ARIC Risk Hub which monitors real-time customers and their lifestyles. These solutions include, Payment fraud prevention, Anti-money laundering, Gaming fraud prevention, Card fraud prevention, Application fraud prevention and Merchant Acquiring fraud prevention.”
The fintech also unveiled other products such as Fintech-in-a-box; Banking-as-a-Service; Payment-as-a- Service; Interswitch Security-as-a-Service; Mobile Banking-as-a-Service and Biometrics on POS and Value financing.
These products are tailored to provide seamless payment solutions to banks, fintech, micro-finance banks, other financial institutions and their customers. Essentially, these products will help to improve the digital payment solutions that financial institutions offer to their customers.
Critical points the products will be solving include protecting customers against digital payment fraud, effective value financing tools for lenders, seamless integration to payment channels, enhanced customer experience etc.
According to Olufemi Davies, the group head of products for Purepay Interswitch says “Tokenization replaces sensitive data such as the 16-digits account information with a unique digital identifier known as Token”. He also added that tokenization will enable merchants to collect payments seamlessly, enabling customers to check out faster in-store, in-app and online with just a single tap.
Furthermore, Olufemi Davies gives a detailed explanation of the Point of Sale (POS) biometric features. He said it was designed to protect customers against digital payment fraud and to provide them with faster and more convenient ways to validate payments.
These solutions provide real-time fraud protection and anti-money laundering transaction monitoring with machine learning while opening new revenue streams for businesses.
