Boost Sales And Beat Fraud: A Mantra For Merchants

As online and mobile commerce grow in popularity, so too do opportunities for card-not-present fraud.

It’s an unfortunately consequence of the commerce renaissance we’re seeing, but one that innovators from all aspects of the payments industry are working to combat. The war on fraud saw a powerful new alliance last week, when fraud prevention specialist Kount partnered with MasterCard to help with one simple goal: boost sales and beat fraud.

How will Kount and MasterCard combine to fortify anti-fraud measures? Market Platform Dynamics CEO Karen Webster spoke with Brad Wiskirchen, CEO at Kount, to find out.

“Kount’s mantra is that we help merchants boost sales and beat fraud, so this was a perfect fit. Kount and MasterCard are both all about making it easier and more profitable to do business in the CNP environment,” Wiskirchen explained. “To that end, we combined our comprehensive fraud solution with their Expert Monitoring system to allow merchants to continue to grow their sale without the fear of fraud.”

Wiskirchen elaborated on that process, explaining that the partnership with MasterCard give Kount access to MasterCard’s Expert Monitoring API. Kount subsequently gains insight into the history of a cardholder account transaction behavior. That information “plugs right into” a fraud solution like Kounts, which lets merchants determine if a transaction is “normal or anomalous in real-time.”

“When we take those two things together, we allow merchants to dramatically increase their sales and reduce the cost of fraud,” Wiskirchen said. “And our initial studies on performance indicated a really good ROI for adding the EMS scores to merchants’ fraud prevention strategies with what they’re doing right now with Kount’s solutions.”

As Wiskirchen pointed out, the partnership between Kount and MasterCard can also help merchants who are stuck in expensive fine programs for exceeding chargeback limits. Such programs can get “tremendously expensive” for merchants.

Finally, Webster pressed Wiskirchen on what else Kount is working on to combat fraud in an increasingly complex industry, and one in which the emergence of smart devices is enabling more frequent commerce from more places. Wiskirchen cited mobile commerce and the EMV migration as two industry trends that threaten to challenge the anti-fraud industry. However, he stressed that Kount already has and is continuing to build upon solutions for such challenges, and noted that partnerships like the one Kount has with MasterCard can only help.

“We’re prepared for whatever the payments world brings. We’re prepared to continue to help merchants boost their sales and to beat fraud and reduce those fees that they’re paying, and enhance their profitability,” Wiskirchen said.

“We’re not prepared for the challenges they face today, we’re prepared for the challenges they face today and will face tomorrow.

To hear more Wiskirchen and Webster on Kount’s deal with MasterCard, its vision moving forward and more, listen to the full podcast below.

   

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Bradley J. Wiskirchen
CEO of Kount

Wiskirchen joined Kount in 2005. His skills and experience in business, technology and law give Kount an edge in strategic planning and negotiation in the Internet sector. Under his guidance, Kount has become the premier fraud prevention platform for card-not-present merchants.

Among his many industry and community involvements, Wiskirchen serves as a Director of the Salt Lake City Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. He is also the co-founder and former Chair of the Idaho Software Employers Alliance (ISEA) which merged with the Idaho Technology Council (ITC) in 2010. Additionally, Wiskirchen has held board positions with the Boise Metro Chamber of Commerce, Boise State University Office of Technology Transfer, FUNDSY, Discovery Center of Idaho, Intermountain Venture Forum and many other organizations.

Prior to joining Kount, Wiskirchen was a partner in the law firm of Holland & Hart, where he managed the firm’s Business Entities and Transactions Practice Group. His experience includes mergers and acquisitions, technology transfer and licensing and debt and equity financings.

He was awarded a J.D. from the University of Notre Dame, and a B.A. from Brigham Young University.