Global cross-channel payment fraud increases 13% during 2018 peak holiday season

New benchmark data from ACI Worldwide, a leading global provider of real-time electronic payment and banking solutions, revealed a 13 per cent increase in fraud attempts in the ‘buy online pickup in-store’ (BOPIS) channel during the 2018 peak holiday season. Based on hundreds of millions of merchant transactions, including some of the world’s leading global retail brands, BOPIS also saw consumer transactions peak at 20 per cent right before Christmas as shoppers bought last-minute gifts before the holiday. 

Erika Dietrich, global director, Payments Risk, ACI Worldwide said:

“As chip-and-pin credit cards are harder for fraudsters to replicate, it is driving them toward card-not-present, cross-channel fraud. For example, fraudsters can use stolen credit card information to make a card-not-present purchase online and then simply walk in and pick up the item in-store. We’ll see this trend continue to grow in the coming years, and merchants will need to pay more attention to their omni-channel fraud controls.”

Principal findings from the data include:

• The overall volume of purchases increased by 16 percent, while overall value increased 9 percent compared to the same period in 2017

• BOPIS transactions increased 20 per cent, peaking the weekend prior to Christmas
  • Fraud attempts on BOPIS increased 13 per cent

• The volume of purchases increased by 27 per cent while the value of purchases increased by 17 per cent during the weekend after Thanksgiving (November 24 and 25) in 2018, compared to the same period in 2017

• Volume of fraud attempts increased by 1 percent, while the value of fraud attempts increased by 6 percent in 2018 compared 2017

Thanksgiving Day

• The volume of transactions on Thanksgiving Day increased 19 per cent in 2018 compared to 2017
• The volume of fraud attempts on Thanksgiving Day decreased to 1.24 per cent compared to 1.83 per cent in 2017

Black Friday

• The volume of transactions on Black Friday increased 20 per cent in 2018 compared to 2017
• The volume of fraud attempts on Black Friday decreased to 1.30 per cent compared to 1.59 per cent in 2017

Cyber Monday

• Volume of transactions on Cyber Monday increased 9 per cent in 2018 compared to 2017
• Volume of fraud attempts on Cyber Monday decreased to 0.84 per cent compared to 1.28 per cent in 2017

“We saw genuine consumer transactions outpace fraudulent transactions this past holiday season as merchant fraud strategies kept pace in the market. In addition, merchants have become more savvy as they are spreading out the volume of sales earlier in the holiday season (October through November) compared to years past, to reduce fulfilment and delivery bottlenecks,” Dietrich continued.

ACI’s UP eCommerce Payments solution offers integrated, real-time fraud management capabilities, which utilize artificial intelligence, advanced machine learning and predictive and behavioral analytics designed to maximize revenue conversion while thwarting fraudulent activity. The award-winning solution offered in ACI’s cloud is designed to scale for real-time fraud prevention at peak and high volumes.