It’s an unfortunate realization that fraud has always existed and likely always will. Unfortunately, not everyone sees the value in doing the right thing. In many ways, I would liken fraudsters to children. When they don’t get the answer they want, they quietly move on to the next parent to try and illicit the response they’re seeking. As they mature, they get more sophisticated at this tactic. For fraudsters, they too have evolved. They are relentless, and determined, but so are we.

To a certain degree, you really must respect the tenacity and stubbornness to never give up; however, there’s a big difference between wanting another piece of candy from the Halloween leftovers, and trying to steal anything not nailed down. Fortunately, FIS has fabulous teams of highly qualified individuals that are focused on thwarting these fraudsters. These teams spend their days anticipating next moves, refining processes and strengthening rules to stop the fraud that leads to profit losses. They go the extra mile to ensure there is a comprehensive security landscape that can’t be beat. But the process and technology to secure the most stable environment are only part of the picture.

Technology and process are only as strong as the data contained within the system and more importantly, the people behind it. For example, I continue to be amazed at how adept these fraud experts are at developing the fraud strategies that keep commerce moving. Their agile processes and what they can do with the data, are nothing short of remarkable. It’s not just their industry-leading fraud performance metrics on real-time declines, loss per card, and gross/net BPs, but it is their understanding of the cardholder experience and how that can affect a portfolio.

The importance of customer experience is critical in today’s environment

Loose rule writing will result in less point of sale (POS) friction but will allow more potential fraud and create big downstream impacts for affected cardholders. In the reverse, strict rules will create more friction at the POS but less downstream impact. This has always been a challenge, and it requires a gentle balance, but it has grown in its importance. In today’s competitive market, customer experience is key, and customers are quick to change institutions when they either must deal with impact of fraud, or they have to struggle to gain approvals to spend their own money. With the right analytics tools you can see broader trends, as well as unique characteristics of your customers that give you the insight you need to find the right balance in your fraud mitigation strategies.

Even with a world-class internal team, the more eyes the better. Fraud is complicated with lots of subtle nuances in the data. Knowing the use cases of your customers and staying alert to new fraudster tactics requires a community of experts all collaborating to stop fraud.

Exposure of the data is equally important

As an example, FIS Ethos Analytics enables access to critical insights for our clients so they can have their eyes on trends as well. This comprehensive data analytics platform is exposing key transaction authorization performance with alerts, real-time declines, confirmed fraud, and entry methods to name a few. We’re continuously adding data, and combining it with other sources, to enhance the view into fraud metrics across debit, credit, and more. Having a suite of tools to investigate and act quickly makes all the difference and those with the best information, make the best decisions.

While the pandemic has brought many new challenges, and fraudsters continue targeting the path of least resistance, FIS and our clients are well-equipped to stay ahead of the trends. By combining rich data with formidable systems, strong processes, enhanced tools, and highly skilled experts, we have set the stage for a winning recipe. No one can go at it alone and that’s why partnering with clients is so critical. We learn and grow together through a combination of professional fraud services and self-service tools like Ethos Analytics. The partnership is a winning recipe for balanced rules that can help you lower loses and create the great cardholder experiences you need to stay top of wallet and win loyalty.