Mastercard introduces fraud solution with Ravelin

Mastercard has worked with UK-based machine learning fraud platform Ravelin to bring to market a fraud reduction solution for “quick commerce” merchants.

The new fraud solution incorporates Ekata’s digital identity verification capabilities with real-time fraud insights from Ethoca, both of which are Mastercard businesses, to help merchants validate a consumer’s identity without creating additional friction.

According to UK Finance, online shopping fraud in 2021 culminated in total losses for consumers of over £410 million.

Meanwhile, research by consultancy McKinsey revealed that online grocery orders rose by more than 50%, and are expected to increase again this year.

Through the partnership, Ravelin will draw on Ekata’s transaction risk API to verify the user’s identity the first time they transact, to produce a risk score.

Post-transaction, Ravelin will help merchants deflect fraud and prevent chargebacks with Ethoca ‘Alerts’ and Ethoca ‘Consumer Clarity’.

Chris Reid, executive vice president of identity solutions at Mastercard, said: “Ravelin shares our longstanding commitment to building and reinforcing trust in the digital economy.

“By bringing our capabilities together, we can help quick commerce merchants better assess fraud before a payment is authorised, improving the checkout experience.”

Non-traditional data points

In a presentation at Open Banking Expo Europe in Amsterdam on 30 September, Hubert Rachwalski, CEO of Polish-based fraud prevention group Nethone, said its research found that assessing non-traditional data could be key to fighting financial scams in the future.

As an example, he told attendees that additional data points could be harnessed by observing how users hold a mobile device, how they use their mobile phones in different market scenarios, and even by taking information from the uniqueness of a user’s palm.