Secure payments: how to boost transactions without increasing fraud

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Secure payments: how to boost transactions without increasing fraud

The payment journey is a pivotal moment in e-commerce, where a user either completes their purchase or abandons their cart. Striking the right balance between a seamless experience and robust security is a significant challenge: too much friction can deter customers, while insufficient security leaves merchants vulnerable to fraud. Here’s how e-commerce businesses can optimize transactions by balancing convenience and control, boosting conversions without increasing risks.

Why is striking the balance between convenience and security essential?

Online merchants face a critical dilemma: simplify payments to encourage conversions without neglecting security. Effective security isn’t just a protective measure—it’s a tool to foster customer trust and drive revenue growth.

Security standards like PCI DSS protect sensitive payment data. Beyond ensuring compliance, these measures reinforce user confidence in the payment interface.

However, excessive controls, such as multiple authentication steps, risk frustrating buyers. By adopting intelligent and flexible solutions like Purse’s 3DS Agnostic, e-merchants can adjust controls without hindering the customer experience. This approach ensures adherence to security standards while optimizing the payment journey.

Related: Secure online payment: 8 best practices to secure your e-commerce site

Streamlining payments to encourage legitimate transactions

There are several strategies to enhance the payment journey without compromising security. Here are some solutions to boost transactions while minimizing friction:

1. Simplify the checkout process

Integrating Purse’s 3DS Agnostic helps e-merchants streamline the user journey while ensuring compliance with security standards. This solution applies 3D Secure authentication only when necessary, reducing unnecessary checks and smoothing the payment process for loyal customers.

With 3DS Externalized, Purse also unifies the card payment journey regardless of the payment service provider (PSP) used. If rerouting to another PSP becomes necessary, transactions can be redirected without requiring a new 3DS authentication, ensuring a consistent and smooth experience for users.

2. Adjust security measures based on risk

Adaptive authentication adjusts control levels based on the risk assessment of each transaction. For example, fewer checks are needed for a regular customer with a known IP address. Conversely, additional controls may be applied for unusual logins.

This adaptability ensures a seamless experience for trusted customers while reinforcing security for higher-risk profiles.

3. Ensure transaction continuity

Purse’s Retry and Backup features guarantee an uninterrupted payment journey, even in the event of technical failures or PSP downtime.

• Retry: If a transaction fails, the Retry feature automatically reattempts the payment through another PSP, increasing the acceptance rate without requiring user intervention.
• Backup: If a PSP is temporarily unavailable, Purse can automatically redirect the transaction to a secondary provider, ensuring service continuity and a smooth customer experience.

4. Embrace test-and-learn without compromising security

At Purse, the test-and-learn approach is enabled by the Split feature, which allows merchants to test different PSP configurations and payment methods. By distributing transaction flows across multiple options, merchants can analyze and compare provider performance in real-time. This helps identify the best balance between convenience and security, enabling continuous innovation and optimization of payment strategies without disrupting the user experience.

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Combating fraud without penalizing customers

Reducing fraud while maintaining a seamless user experience requires robust tools and nuanced strategies:

1. Automation and artificial intelligence

Machine learning and real-time behavioral analysis technologies can precisely detect suspicious activities. These solutions analyze transactions, identify anomalies, and flag unusual behavior immediately.

For instance, algorithms compare a customer’s current behavior to their purchase history to identify deviations. If a regular customer initiates a transaction from an unfamiliar device, additional verification can be triggered.

2. Monitor key performance indicators (KPIs)

Tracking KPIs is crucial to evaluate the impact of security measures on conversion rates and customer satisfaction. Metrics like conversion rate, fraud rate, and cart abandonment rate help merchants measure the effectiveness of controls and pinpoint areas for improvement.

By monitoring these KPIs, e-merchants can fine-tune security policies based on results, strengthening measures where necessary without harming the user experience.

Related: Optimize your transactions and increase your turnover thanks to data payment!

3. Use a payment orchestrator for centralized and flexible management

Payment orchestrators like Purse provide centralized management of transaction flows and security controls. By integrating multiple PSPs, orchestrators simplify user journeys while enhancing security.

Purse’s Card Routing feature directs each transaction to the most suitable provider, maximizing success rates and reducing costs. In case of a PSP failure, the transaction is automatically redirected to another provider, ensuring optimal service continuity.

For e-commerce businesses, a seamless and secure payment journey is essential to maximizing conversions without compromising safety. With advanced features like Retry, Backup, and 3DS Agnostic, Purse enables merchants to deliver a frictionless customer experience while adhering to the highest security standards.

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