As the mobile commerce channel continues to surge, a new study finds that merchants are not keeping pace with growth when it comes to fraud and mobile payment adoption.
Conducted for the third consecutive year by Kount, Inc., CardNotPresent.com and The Fraud Practice, LLC, the 2015 Mobile Payments & Fraud Survey analyzes fraud and the mobile channel, uncovering trends in payments, new technology adoption, and fraud prevention strategies. Conducted from November 2014 to January 2015, the Mobile Payments and Fraud Survey had 2,000 survey respondents among different industries that are active in payments, risk management and the mobile channel, including merchants, service providers, card issuers, acquirers, and card associations.
The survey found that merchant awareness is not keeping pace with mobile fraud growth, and the support for the mobile channel is not meeting predictions and expectations as reported by respondents in previous years’ surveys. In addition, concerns over the implementation around new payment methods such as Apple Pay have risen. What’s more, while new tools are available to merchants to meet increased fraud, there is very little consistency in adoption of these tools across industries.
“The data shows that the industry as a whole is further behind on mobile adoption and fraud protection than they were a year ago, and in fact, some are even pulling back from it,” said Don Bush, vice president of marketing at Kount. “It seems everyone knows that mobile is finally poised to make an impact, but the urgency to make sure mobile fraud protection is in place is lacking. To successfully support the growth of mobile, organizations must first ensure IT departments are talking with fraud teams to understand risks and rewards or mobile fraud will grow to a bigger issue in the coming years.”
Exponential growth has led to many organizations’ confusion about best practices in payments and fraud mitigation. This may be one reason there appears to be a slight slow down in adoption and policies surrounding the mobile channel.
“As barriers to mobile adoption continue to fall and mobile payments of all kinds surge, a green field is emerging for fraudsters,” said Steven Casco, CEO of CardNotPresent.com and the CNP Expo. “What was once not worth their time is becoming very lucrative and companies throughout the e- and m-commerce ecosystem are just beginning to understand how vulnerable they actually are. This report is the most comprehensive treatment of attitudes toward the mobile channel available, examining how merchants and service providers are trying to protect it and how fraudsters are attacking."
“Overall, organizations are earning more revenue and implementing new solutions to meet the needs of customers and merchants in the mobile channel,” said David Montague, president and executive consultant, The Fraud Practice, LLC. “At the same time, there is a noticeable shift from a focus on risk management to managing the complexity of payment methods and channels, including mobile wallets and mobile point of sale payments. Organizations must work to find a balance in managing both as the industry continues to make strides in all aspects of mobile channel development.”
To download a free copy of the 2015 Mobile Payments & Fraud Survey, visit info.kount.com.
Source: Kount, Inc.
