Interview with Christine Jamison, Fraud & Authentication Product Manager
What are the services from Verifi and Ethoca for?
Put simply, the two services are similar; Verifi is from Visa and Ethoca from Mastercard. They alert merchants to potential disputes before the chargeback process starts.
Merchants know too well that overlooking chargebacks can lead to difficulties with their payment process, so keeping their chargeback to transaction ratio in check is critical to avoid problems.
We’ve partnered with both Ethoca and Verifi to offer the best protection to our merchants. Each service provides ‘prevention alerts’ in a slightly different way but both help merchants refund disputed transactions to avoid chargebacks.
So, for merchants that sell online, it’s all about reducing chargebacks and their associated administration as well as improving customer experience.
Which merchants would benefit from it and why?
Merchants in high-risk sectors or with a high or increasing level of chargebacks and who are open to refunding customers ought to consider these services.
Chargebacks are time-consuming and typically involve a lot of touchpoints with various stakeholders over many weeks. So, it’s not only costly – it also negatively impacts their customers’ experience.
Ethoca and Verifi help drive process efficiencies. A rapid notification of a disputed transaction means that a merchant can resolve it before the chargeback process starts and so enhance customer’s experience as well as reduce operational costs.
Do merchants need alerts from both Ethoca & Verifi?
Some merchants receive alerts from just one vendor, but many uses both services to get a more comprehensive protection.
It very much depends on merchant-by-merchant case but typically f they have issues mainly with their Visa customers, then Verifi is the one for them. If most disputes occur on Mastercard cards, then they should use Ethoca.
How does it work?
Merchants receive an alert when a cardholder attempts to file a dispute with their issuing bank. The merchant then has a brief window of time during which the dispute process is paused, and if they can resolve the issue behind the dispute, the chargeback can be avoided entirely. So basically, on receiving the alert, merchants have a choice: they can either agree (i.e., refund the customer) or allow it to become a chargeback, with a view to defending/challenging it.
Verifi will automatically perform the refund based on the rules set up by the merchant. Ethoca requires that the merchant refunds the customer and updates their portal with the outcome of the dispute.
Depending on individual merchant needs and risk preferences, thresholds and rules management can be changed as and when necessary, tailored to the merchant’s unique requirements.
How much does it cost?
Merchants pay a fee for each alert received but the fee is lower than the fees incurred whenever a chargeback is raised. In addition, thanks to the alert, merchants can potentially stop an order from shipping and thereby reduce their product and shipping costs.
How do merchants implement these services?
Merchants contact their account manager who will provide the order form, the agreement (for Ethoca) and/or the enrolment and rules forms (for Verifi).
These documents are then submitted to our two partners (Mastercard & Visa) who will register the merchant, set up rules (where applicable) and send them a link to the portal where details of all the alerts are displayed. And when using Ethoca, access the functionality to update the outcome of a dispute.
For more information
Please contact your Trust Payments account manager who can discuss the options and the benefits in more detail.
