How Rosetta Stone Became Fluent in Fraud Prevention

Name: John Kurniawan

Title: European Counsel

Company: Rosetta Stone

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PYMNTS.com: Currently, what are you focused on at Rosetta Stone?

JOHN KURNIAWAN: As a merchant, Rosetta Stone has been focusing not only on the fraud prevention solutions but also on the networks amongst traders and businesses in order to add a new aspect to our combat against fraud. We have found that while fraud prevention tools and systems to support the business are, of course, essential. By incorporating an extra element of networking, it enhances the long-run strategy and gives us the ability to sift through other companies experiences in order to gain some sort of insight into where the next potential issues could arise. The Merchant Risk Council (MRC) has been a very good starting platform for this, as we have been working together with other merchants on different initiatives or simply cases where input from other enforcement departments have been invaluable. With a common forum for like-minded merchants, we feel that, strategically, we are now a lot better equipped to understand and response to new challenges as a result of many relationships we have been able to leverage on.

PYMNTS.com: Give us an overview of your presentation at the MRC European Conference, “Fraud & Law Enforcement?”

KURNIAWAN: The purpose of the presentation was to give a brief of the experiences Rosetta Stone had in the US, as well as in the UK, in terms of successfully running a number of fraud cases successfully with various law enforcement agencies in the both the UK and US and the success criteria identified in order to sustainable manage a successful fraud investigation with a minimum amount of resources available. This would include how to structure evidence and how communication to local law enforcement as part of the fraud case and how this should be managed effectively. By sharing our experiences and tips with other merchants, we found that the MRC forum really became a great place for not only the exchange of ideas but also a sounding board and even an enhancement by being able to strike up connections with other merchants on similar or identical cases

PYMNTS.com: At present, what are some of the most pressing concerns as far as fraud and payments for merchants like Rosetta Stone? What are some possible solutions?

KURNIAWAN: New markets and emerging markets: it is top priority for any company to ensure that it enter the market well-prepared and while solution providers obviously are incredibly important to the process, the experience from other merchants who already operate on the market really ads a context and insight into the solutions you would consider and ultimately implement. Again, the idea of an intelligence sharing community like MRC has provided us with a good platform with information from other members to put into context some of the solutions we have chosen to rely on and ultimately how we plan to go forward.

PYMNTS.com: Can merchants deter fraudsters out without detracting from the customer experience?

KURNIAWAN: In our opinion, we would suggest that the merchant go beyond just tweaking a technical solution that potentially could detract from the customer experience. We often find that the ones that commit fraud also operate in a community, and similarly, if a company actually reacts and tries to go after specific cases, the fraudsters will warn each other and ultimately deter potential future attempts

PYMNTS.com: Let’s play a little word association:

KURNIAWAN:

– eCommerce is… pretty much the cornerstone of a business, and likewise, the offered fraud prevention solutions out there are numerous. However, we suggest not just relying on purely technical solutions-providers but also for the company itself to dedicate some resource and time to engage in further activity suited to the company’s business platform to ensure fraud activity is managed more proactively

– Mobile commerce is… definitely making its way and the forums in MRC have definitely outlined a number of interesting point which have not been highlighted by any other source previously … food for thought

– The most important thing to consumers is… ease and reliability