Introducing GoCardless Protect+: The next generation of fraud prevention

Bank accounts are the number one most accessible payment method worldwide, yet none of the existing anti-fraud solutions are built specifically with bank payments in mind. Meanwhile, over two-thirds of merchants worldwide are being affected by payment fraud.

No payment method is immune to those fraudulent payers who want to receive your goods or services for free, and while merchants agree that bank payments are more secure than card payments, your revenue and reputation is still at risk if you're not defending yourself from fraud.

We think it’s time for a new, intelligent way to protect payments. Introducing GoCardless Protect+ - our first anti-fraud solution that is built specifically for bank payments.

Fraud is a top threat for nearly half of all UK businesses

Until now businesses have had to make the choice. Option one was to add additional layers to their checkout in the hope of making it harder for fraudulent payers to succeed. The downside of this choice is that the added friction also puts off genuine payers, with 18% of UK businesses saying fraud solutions have had a negative impact on their conversion. The second option was to do nothing and attempt to recover funds after they had been lost.

This approach comes with its own set of problems with over a quarter of UK businesses telling us that fighting fraud requires a big time commitment from their teams, and they only manage to recover 24% of chargebacks.

Find out how much fraud is costing your business with our simple fraud calculator 

It’s time to fight fraud the intelligent way

Over three-quarters of UK businesses offer bank payments as a way to pay during their checkout. So, we decided that rather than businesses trying to make one-size-fits-all solutions work for them, we would create the first anti-fraud solution designed for businesses collecting bank payments.

How does GoCardless Protect+ work?

GoCardless Protect+ combines payment intelligence that we’ve gathered over the past decade with open banking and machine learning to provide fraud protection that seamlessly integrates with GoCardless payments.

There are four key elements to GoCardless Protect+:

1. Detecting which payers are fraudulent

2. Verifying those who are risky

3. Monitoring fraud patterns

4. Challenging unfair chargebacks that slip through the first three layers of defence

By intelligently using data from our global network, GoCardless Protect+ can detect potential fraudulent payers the moment they attempt to create a mandate - even if they’re a brand new payer. Once identified, these higher-risk payers are routed to Verified Mandates where they will need to authenticate that they own the account details that they are trying to use.

But don’t worry - even if a genuine payer is incorrectly identified as potentially risky, Verified Mandates adds minimal friction as it automatically directs people to their online bank account and there is no need for them to manually enter an account number or sort code. This means genuine payers can easily confirm their identity and quickly move on in completing their transactions.

GoCardless Protect+ also surfaces fraud data in-dashboard, in powerful charts, that keep you up to date with the state of fraud in your business. This means you’ll be able to recognise activity patterns and make decisions on how you want to control your level of risk over time via the GoCardless dashboard.

Finally, in case of a rare moment when someone is able to get through the first three levels of defence, GoCardless Protect+ will help you to challenge any unfair chargebacks and work to recover funds on your behalf - ultimately saving you time, employee resources and recovering hard earned revenue that may have otherwise fallen into the wrong hands.

Fraud protection that adapts to work for you

Whatever your business’ plans for the future, GoCardless Protect+ will be by your side to prevent and reduce all types of payment fraud. Being built on payment intelligence means that the technology can adapt over time in line with payer behaviour, continuing to identify risky payers even if their approach or tactics change. Plus, by being able to monitor and change the level of protection in your checkout, it is an anti-fraud solution that scales with you.

Ready to level up against fraud? Speak to one of our payment experts about protecting your bank payments from fraud with GoCardless Protect+.

Learn more about the different types of payment fraud

If you want to better understand the different forms of payment fraud and learn how you can calculate its true cost on your business, then register now to watch our free webinar Fraud 101: The real impact on business.

Data: GoCardless and YouGov 2022 survey of 8,507 global payers (GoCardless Payer Experience Report 2022)

Market research conducted on behalf of GoCardless, to 1800 merchants across UK, US, France, Aus & Spain, February 2021