Mobile commerce is riskier than standard ecommerce, according to more than half of merchants responding to the world’s largest annual payments and fraud survey
Annual Kount Mobile Payments and Fraud Survey finds 51% of nearly 2,000 respondents believe the risk of mobile fraud has increased year on year
London, UK – 14 May 2014 – One in ten retailers expect most of their online sales to come via a mobile device by the end of 2014, according to the IMRG.[1] However the number of organisations believing the mobile channel is riskier than standard ecommerce has increased by 20% year on year, according to new findings from the Kount Mobile Payments and Fraud Survey, released today.
The mobile channel is still evolving in terms of its perception and the level of importance it has within any given business, but there are certain industries that view mobile as far riskier than others. When asked if mobile was riskier than standard ecommerce, the following sectors were most concerned: money movement (33%), travel (25%) and financial services (21%), who reported that it was ‘far riskier’ than the previous year.
Across 24 industries, those who felt mobile fraud was less risky than standard ecommerce were confined to single figures (0% – 8%), with the exception of dating/social sites, with 29% believing it was actually less risky. 21 industries overwhelmingly demonstrated more concern for mobile fraud than in standard ecommerce.
This perception has led to an increase in merchants who think the mobile channel needs specific fraud tools, almost doubling (from 17% to 32%) year on year. The problem facing merchants is how to balance fast payment processing with a fraud prevention solution that provides security and reliability.
“Fraud prevention should be specific to what you need,” said Don Bush, Vice President of Marketing at Kount. “Mobile is not yet a settled channel, but a fraud protection strategy should be. One thing that is crucial for mobile, alongside the most powerful fraud prevention on the market, is speed. Consumers are increasingly demanding a near real-time purchase, irrespective of device, and this level of demand needs to be matched by a trusted one-stop shop solution that doesn’t compromise on security.”
Respondents have previously found the difficulty consumers have transacting on mobile devices to be the biggest obstacle to mobile adoption. This year, however, there is much more focus on security and fraud. The share of respondents who cited “Making it easier to transact” as the biggest obstacle fell from 36% to 28%, while the number of respondents who believe the biggest obstacles are “Addressing how to manage fraud risk” and “Addressing consumer security concerns” each grew by more than 40%.
“E-commerce in particular depends so much on the level of trust that the consumer has in your user-friendly interface and fast, secure back-end technology to automate and simplify the process. The fact is that fraud follows opportunity, and there may be no greater opportunity for fraud today than in mobile,” continued Bush. “As a relatively new platform that continues to drive deeper into new and existing markets, mobile’s potential is still being unlocked, whether it’s for communications, banking and payments, retail, gaming, social media or more. It’s an incredibly exciting time for the industry, but there will always be those who try to take advantage of security holes in order to defraud legitimate businesses and customers.”
About the survey
The Mobile Payments & Fraud Survey 2014 Report is the second annual instalment of this study highlighting the growth, opportunity, obstacles, preferences and priorities identified by nearly 2,000 payments and/or fraud professionals. Respondents represented a variety of organisations within the payments ecosystem, including Merchants, Service Providers, Acquirers, Card Associations and Issuers from organisations of all sizes, from those earning annual revenues of less than $5 million to companies earned more than $50 million per year in revenue.
About Kount
Kount helps businesses boost sales by reducing fraud. Our all-in-one, SaaS platform simplifies fraud detection and helps online businesses accept more orders. Kount’s turnkey fraud platform is easy-to-implement and easy-to-use. Kount’s proprietary technology has reviewed hundreds of millions of transactions and provides maximum protection for some of the world’s best-known brands. Merchants using Kount can accept more orders from more people in more places than ever before. For more information about Kount, please visit www.kount.com.
About The Fraud Practice LLC
The Fraud Practice is a privately held US LLC based in Sarasota, Florida. The Fraud Practice provides training and consulting services on eCommerce payments, fraud prevention and credit granting. Businesses throughout the world rely on The Fraud Practice to help them build and manage their fraud and risk prevention strategies. For more information, please visit www.fraudpractice.com.
About CardNotPresent.com
As one of the only sources of content focused solely on the growing card-not-present (CNP) segment of the payments industry, CardNotPresent.com is an independent voice generating original news, information, education and inspiration for and about the companies and people operating in the CNP space. The company’s media platforms include the CardNotPresent.com portal, CNP Report, CNP Expo, and CNP Awards. Sign up for free to receive the twice-weekly CNP Report featuring comprehensive coverage of the CNP payments space atwww.cardnotpresent.com/signup/.
