Fight back against fraud with GoCardless’ new account verification tool

GoCardless is building the world's largest bank pay network, working to ensure that you can collect payments directly from your customers' bank accounts in the most efficient, cost-effective, and safest way possible. That’s why we have introduced Verified Mandates in the UK - a brand-new open banking powered feature that works in sync with Direct Debit to stop payer fraud in its tracks.

UK businesses have previously had to accept fraud risk or use high-friction payment solutions

35%*¹ of businesses across the US and Europe rank payment fraud among the top threats facing their business today, with a third of businesses taking an average of three days to catch a fraudulent payment.

It’s a problem that’s costing businesses more than just revenue, but lost time as well, with half of commercial enterprises in the UK having up to five people chasing fraudulent payments. There’s also the additional time and cost of managing multiple tools to cover the scope of a business’ needs, with a quarter of commercial enterprises in the UK having between two and three separate tools just to manage payment fraud within their organisation.

The problem with cards

Up until now, businesses have had to choose from payment solutions that either come at a higher cost, offer a low ROI, or cause checkout friction. For example, card payments have an average failure rate of up to 15%, which can lead to higher churn rates and a loss of revenue. Card payments are also becoming increasingly unpopular. 43% of recent survey respondents told us that they either strongly or extremely agree that they are less likely to pay with credit cards now compared to before the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Previous drawbacks with bank debit

So, what about bank debit? Bank debit payments have a lot of benefits for both businesses and consumers, from transaction speed, lower processing fees, and ease of setting up recurring payments. However, stolen bank details have historically been one of the most common types of fraud alongside stolen or fake card details, and previously there was no way to make these payments safer for businesses.

Making bank pay even more secure for businesses

Verified Mandates by GoCardless can be added to a merchant’s checkout flow to stop payment fraud before it even happens, giving businesses the confidence to leverage the benefits of bank debit.

What are Verified Mandates and how can they reduce fraud?

Powered by open banking, Verified Mandates by GoCardless is a fraud prevention tool that verifies your new customers’ bank details. Your customers simply enter a few details in the checkout process and we help them automatically log in to their online banking to verify their information. If everything checks out, your customers are verified and you both receive an instant confirmation, giving you payment confidence before providing any goods or services. 

Smooth payer experience 

The best part? We are helping you reduce fraud, without adding unnecessary friction. Payers don’t need to find and manually enter their account number or sort code in order to confirm their details, we’ll be able to help them automatically log in to their online banking. 

The Verified Mandates process can be broken down into four key steps.

1. Add Verified Mandates to your payment flow after contacting GoCardless to have them activated in your account

2. Ask new customers to enter the payment flow and complete a standard bank debit mandate form

3. Powered by open banking, your customers can then select and confirm their bank account details

4. We’ll then verify their account details and send you both a confirmation instantly so you know that everything is completed and safe.

What are the main benefits of Verified Mandates? 

Catch fraud instantly

Verifying your payer’s bank details at checkout will save you time, money, and worry - even if you’re onboarding hundreds, or even thousands, of new customers every day. 

Uninterrupted customer experience

According to research from GoCardless, 85%*² of online shoppers say they would abandon a purchase if the checkout process was too long and a further 25% say they would abandon the checkout if they had to manually enter their bank details. This demonstrates how important it is to offer a quick and safe way to checkout. Verified Mandates are seamlessly integrated into the existing payment flow and allow payers to instantly confirm their details without needing to find and manually enter their bank details.

Helping your business to use bank pay with confidence

At GoCardless, we’ve specialised in direct bank payments for over 10 years. Whether your business is concerned about identity fraud, customers who have no intention of providing valid payments for goods and services, or just protecting your revenue, we believe that Verified Mandates is the solution. 

Find out more about Verified Mandates by GoCardless and they can help to protect your business against fraud.

*¹The research cited was conducted online by GoCardless between Feb/Mar 2021 and covers over 250 commercial US businesses.

*²The research cited was conducted online by GoCardless Jun 2021 and covers over 1009 US respondents.