Go Global (and Local) with Confidence

James Hunt, Principal, Managed Risk Services EMEA, CyberSource

Are you looking to grow your international eCommerce orders and keep fraud under control? When we surveyed UK businesses about their fraud management experiences[1], it was clear that protecting against cross-border fraud is a priority. The challenge is to maximize the number of orders accepted, while managing fraud to acceptable levels. The key, in my experience, is to understand both global fraud patterns, and the local consumer behavior.

Generating Growth From Overseas Orders
According to our survey of 200+ UK eCommerce merchants, 75% will be accepting international orders by the end of 2015 – helping grow revenue streams and access new markets. We found that the top new markets planned for expansion are Australia, Belgium and Germany for those already accepting international orders; and Germany, France and the U.S. for those new to global eCommerce.

And of those businesses accepting cross-border eCommerce transactions, nearly a quarter of their orders come from outside the UK.

However, it also showed that merchants’ global fraud strategies are not tailored enough at a local level to take best advantage of the opportunity. Over one fifth still block orders at a country level — meaning that they could miss out on potentially valid orders.

Localized Rules Required
While many of the businesses I speak to are aware that fraud strategies used in one market may not be suitable for another, implementing this can be more difficult.
The trick lies in understanding differences of consumer behavior and local regulations between countries.  These variations provide valuable information about likely fraudulent behavior, for example:

• In the UK, a single email address associated with multiple cards would not raise a concern (as many individuals have multiple credit cards). However, in India this situation would be unusual as it more common to have a single credit card associated with multiple email accounts (as families often share a credit card).
• In Canada there is no mobile number portability between provinces and so phone numbers can be used to indicate the region of a purchaser. However, this is not the case in the U.S. where a phone number is therefore less reliable as an identifier of location or identity.
• Understanding local market nuances enables you to then configure adapt and fraud rules on a per-market basis – so that you can start accepting orders from countries that may previously have been deemed more risky.

Learn More
Download our 2015 UK Fraud Report to find out how you can go global with confidence. You’ll learn about:

• Merchants’ expansion priorities and key fraud challenges
• Best-practice tips on managing fraud across borders
• Fraud management strategies to help speed your time-to-market – from using the right data to localizing analytics

For more on how to grow international eCommerce volume, and protect against fraud download our report here.

[1] Source: CyberSource 2015 UK Fraud Report Series