Brick-and-mortar commerce has rebounded in recent months, but consumers are still heading online for many of their purchases, maintaining trends set in the early months of the pandemic.
Payment trends are expected to continue to tilt toward eCommerce through the remainder of 2020 as well, with some experts predicting that more than 2.1 billion consumers will be shopping primarily through digital channels by 2021 — representing a $6.5 trillion opportunity for eCommerce retailers.
Fraudsters are just as excited by this opportunity as merchants, unfortunately, making it essential for these retailers to craft robust protections to keep the data and the payment information of their consumers safe. This includes upgrading digital security measures, but the resurgence of brick-and-mortar commerce has required upgraded technologies to accept contactless payments and mobile wallets. These wallets are connected to familiar debit or credit cards, the details of which must also be kept safe from enterprising fraudsters.
The October Next-Gen Debit Tracker® analyzes how both digital shopping and digital fraud are growing simultaneously, and what merchants can do to ensure that debit-based card-not-present (CNP) transactions are protected. It also looks at the role that debit cards are continuing to play in commerce, and why protecting these payment details is essential for retailers.
Around The Next-Gen Debit World
Consumers are beginning to place a higher value on cybersecurity when shopping online, a shift that was already occurring before the ongoing pandemic accelerated the move to digital. One study noted that 92 percent of consumers claimed online security was important to them, for example, and the study also indicated that these individuals are well aware of the dangers posed by digital fraud. Eighty-one percent of respondents also agreed that online fraud is common — and crucially for merchants, 83 percent also said they would be more likely to shop with retailers that have made their fraud protection measures transparent.
Assuring consumers of their digital safety is therefore growing imperative to merchants, which requires keeping up with the latest fraud schemes cybercriminals are employing. Card network Visa is warning merchants of a skimming code called “Baka” that bad actors have been employing to scrape card details from eCommerce sites, for example. The network has detected the code on multiple eCommerce sites, according to statements by Visa, and it has also recommended that online merchants take precautions against its use. These include running scheduled checks on their platforms to detect fraud.
Skimming is a tried-and-true tactic, but fraudsters are also experimenting with new tools. Some bad actors are employing the encryption tools used by social messaging app Telegram, for example, in order to hide stolen payment details or personal data such as email addresses from detection. The encryption algorithm integrated into the messaging application is used by the service to keep its users’ messages private, but fraudsters are taking advantage of the capability to use it as a backdoor into eCommerce sites and then to store the information that they steal. This scheme typically starts by planting malicious code onto eCommerce sites, allowing cybercriminals to skim card details, according to reports.
For more on these and other stories, visit the Tracker’s News & Trends.
Why Automated Tools Can Add Security To Online, CNP Transactions
Brick-and-mortar shopping is regaining some ground as retailers reopen new and improved storefronts designed with social distancing in mind, but consumers are still shopping online more than ever. This jump in digital transactions can actually fool merchants into believing that online fraud attempts have dropped, when the reality is that fraud is climbing.
It is therefore essential for merchants to flexibly respond to potential fraud on their online platforms, using tools that can easily distinguish between bad actors and legitimate customers looking to make purchases, explained Ben Groom, global chief digital officer for furniture and home goods retailer Herman Miller in a PYMNTS interview.
To learn more about how Herman Miller is using automated and third-party tools to keep its customers’ data safe, visit the Tracker’s Feature Story.
Deep Dive: Why eCommerce Merchants Need To Revisit Their Debit Security Measures
Consumers are adopting contactless payments or using mobile wallets — underpinned by trusted debit cards — in higher numbers, and fraudsters are following along in their wake. Cybercriminals are targeting payment details kept on these mobile wallets or those that are linked to online purchases with a rising number of phishing scams or identity theft schemes, making it imperative for merchants operating both online and in-store to have robust fraud protection measures in place to keep them out. These retailers must protect payment information both at the physical point of sale and online in order to ensure consumers can safely transact without the threat of fraud.
To learn more about how omnichannel merchants can keep consumers’ payment information safe as both online shopping and online fraud volumes continue to grow, visit the Tracker’s Deep Dive.
About The Tracker
The Next-Gen Debit Tracker®, a PYMNTS and PULSE collaboration, examines how card-not-present payments are rising during the pandemic and what eTailers are doing to secure these transactions against CNP fraud.
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