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Fraud Screening Tools
Protx ensures that your customers’ card details remain secure throughout the transaction process. However, this does not guarantee that the person ordering from your site is the genuine cardholder. As an online merchant, you are responsible for ensuring that the transactions processed through your website are not fraudulent.
While Protx cannot provide you with a guarantee against fraud, we do provide several fraud screening tools to help you protect your business:
- AVS (Address Verification Service): this allows you to check the numeric in the cardholder’s billing address with the card issuer. Read further information on AVS.
- CV2 (Card Verification Value): this allows you to check the additional 3 or 4 digit security code found on the signature strip on the back of the card. Read further information on CV2.
- Verified Payment Data Query (VPDQ) with The 3rd Man: this is an extensive risk management tool provided within VSP Admin to help you detect and prevent fraud. Read further information about VPDQ.
- Verified by Visa and MasterCard SecureCode (3D Secure): this is the latest fraud prevention initiative launched by the card schemes and is included with your Protx account free of charge. This scheme is now compulsory for the processing of Maestro cards. Further information on 3D Secure can be found below.
- Fraud screening reports: access to simple and easy to understand fraud screening reports from within .
- Tailor made fraud screening: we give you the ability to set up rule bases on your account to automatically accept or reject transactions based on the fraud screening results. This allows you to tailor the level of fraud screening you use to suit your business. Read more about how to set up a rule base on your Protx account.
- High risk transaction alerts: transactions that are found to be high risk are highlighted in your VSP Admin reports.
For further information about these fraud prevention tools and how to set up a rule base on your account please visit the Protx technical support website.
3D Secure
3D Secure is the technology behind Verified by Visa (VbV) and MasterCard SecureCode (MSC), the fraud screening initiative launched by the card schemes to provide a more secure method for authenticating the cardholder at the time of the transaction.
This scheme is mandatory for the processing of international Maestro cards, and will soon be made mandatory for the processing of domestic Maestro cards. Protx provides this service at no extra cost.
How the scheme works
When a customer places an order through your website and selects to pay, they will be asked to register for Verified by Visa or MasterCard SecureCode with their issuing bank if they have not already done so.
Once registered, the customer will be presented with a page from their issuing bank at the checkout stage to request that they enter a password. The bank will verify the password and the transaction will continue as normal.
Once the customer has been verified, you will not be liable for a chargeback if the customer later denies the transaction because the banks themselves assume the liability. You can still choose to accept a transaction that has not been verified, but you then accept the liability of the transaction yourself. You are still liable for chargebacks if the customer later denies the receipt of goods.
The scheme applies to all Visa, MasterCard and Maestro cards. As yet there are no similar initiatives for American Express, JCB or Diner’s Club.
Benefits of 3D Secure
- Reduce the number of chargebacks you receive: a transaction fully signed as 3D Secure validated cannot be charged-back to you if the customer later denies the transaction.
- Benefit from a lower fraud rate: 3D Secure transactions have a considerably lower fraud rate than non-secured transactions because the customer is required to authenticate themselves with their issuing bank as part of the transaction. This additional security makes it much more difficult for fraudsters to use stolen card numbers.
- Free of charge: Protx provides 3D Secure at no additional cost to you.
- Flexibility: You have the option of setting up a rule base on your Protx acount to automatically accept or reject transactions depending on the 3D Secure results.
For further information on the 3D Secure transaction process, implementing 3D Secure on your account and how to apply 3D Secure rule bases, please visit our technical support website.