Article: Anti-Fraud Specialist Ethoca Rolls out a Tripartite Defense Against E-Commerce Chargebacks

As seen in Digital Transactions

by John Stewart

The rising problem of e-commerce fraud and related issues like false declines is prompting anti-fraud software companies to roll out solutions. On Thursday, Ethoca Inc. launched a new service with three lines of defense that the Toronto-based company says can potentially eliminate 90% of e-commerce chargebacks.

Ethoca’s Integrated Solution Suite includes its established product, Ethoca Alerts, along with a new product called Ethoca Eliminator. The third component is Enhanced Representments.

In this combination, the Eliminator component allows card issuers to access merchant transaction data to help determine whether a disputed sale is genuine when a customer calls the bank or disputes it within the bank’s app. If the cardholder insists the transaction is fraudulent, the 8-year-old Alerts system notifies its network of some 5,400 merchants about the transaction. Meanwhile, the affected merchant can stop delivery and refund the transaction to the cardholder to avoid a chargeback.

With Representments, merchants holding what they regard as indisputable evidence of so-called friendly fraud can automate the dispute process, again avoiding a chargeback. In friendly-fraud cases, consumers order goods but then file chargebacks after receiving delivery.

The ultimate aim of its triple-barreled approach, Ethoca says, is reduced chargebacks and a smoother customer experience via data sharing.

“Ethoca’s belief is that a layered approach is the only real solution to combat the pervasive friction and poor customer experience typical of today’s e-commerce environment,” said Keith Briscoe, Ethoca’s chief marketing and product officer, in a statement. “Aiming to eradicate 90% of chargebacks while laying a new foundation for a transaction-acceptance experience where no good customer is turned away is our current mission.”

“This new solution suite,” he continued, “takes us one step closer to our vision: creating a new set of rails for the rapid exchange of rich transaction data and intelligence designed to finally make frictionless e-commerce a reality.”