This time of year can be firefighting season for security companies as increased retail volumes invite increased cyber fraud attempts. And indeed, startup Emailage has felt the prime-time crunch as its customers are experiencing their biggest times of the year. However, at Emailage, the season has been surprisingly smooth so far.
Anthony Enrico, the startup’s vice president of customer success, said communication has played a big role in that success. As daily volumes double down, Enrico said Emailage is careful to work with its customers on a daily or weekly basis to ensure their systems are running at full capacity. In fact, the company spends the rest of the year planning and coordinating so it doesn’t have to put out fires in December.
It’s a good thing it does, too. Enrico observed that this holiday season has been twice as big as last year’s, with activity starting earlier and peaking higher on Black Friday weekend — and that’s despite concerns that earlier deals could take a bite out of Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales.
In addition, there is an increased need for automation in risky categories this year with the growth of same-day delivery or in-store pickup, he said. These transactions can be risky because customers do not have to provide a shipping address, which removes one data element from risk analysis and can make it easier for fraudsters to pull one over on merchants.
Instead of having 24 hours to review orders before shipping them, Enrico said the same-day pickup method only gives retailers an hour or two to approve or deny the transaction, meaning they must review it almost instantly. That’s a strength for Emailage, because the startup specializes in risk assessment based only on customers’ email addresses, which it is able to do in near real-time.
Like the lights on the Christmas tree, Enrico said, this is the company’s season to shine.
We’re always on the lookout for opportunities to partner with innovators and disruptors.
Learn More