Widely used by online gaming companies for
compliance purposes, geolocation is increasingly being seen by
financial services providers as a useful weapon to increase
security. Among these is German payments processor Computop, which
has selected a solution from US geolocation specialist Quova to add
another layer of security to it Paygate online fraud prevention
system.
compliance purposes, geolocation is increasingly being seen by
financial services providers as a useful weapon to increase
security. Among these is German payments processor Computop, which
has selected a solution from US geolocation specialist Quova to add
another layer of security to it Paygate online fraud prevention
system.
In essence, Quova’s GeoDirectory Server
solution checks for mismatches between an online customer’s credit
card billing address information and internet protocol (IP)
address.
solution checks for mismatches between an online customer’s credit
card billing address information and internet protocol (IP)
address.
For example, a customer logging in from Nigeria
when their credit card billing address is in the US would be
flagged as a suspicious transaction for further review.
when their credit card billing address is in the US would be
flagged as a suspicious transaction for further review.
According to Quova, its system delivers
detailed demographic and network characteristic data about an IP
address, down to a city area, and was found by professional
services firm PricewaterhouseCoopers to be 99.99 percent accurate
at the country level and 96.3 percent accurate at the US state
level.
detailed demographic and network characteristic data about an IP
address, down to a city area, and was found by professional
services firm PricewaterhouseCoopers to be 99.99 percent accurate
at the country level and 96.3 percent accurate at the US state
level.
Quova’s solution is also able to recognise
satellite connections and anonymizers (anonymous internet proxies)
which are often used by fraudsters to disguise their true online
location. This was a factor in Computop’s selection of Quova.
satellite connections and anonymizers (anonymous internet proxies)
which are often used by fraudsters to disguise their true online
location. This was a factor in Computop’s selection of Quova.
“We reviewed several IP geolocation vendors
including Digital Envoy and Maxmind, but chose Quova because of
their ability to identify transactions coming from satellite
connections and anonymizers,” said Computop’s MD Ralf Gladis.
“Being able to alert the merchant to its customer’s location has
become a crucial part of our fraud prevention process,” he
added.
including Digital Envoy and Maxmind, but chose Quova because of
their ability to identify transactions coming from satellite
connections and anonymizers,” said Computop’s MD Ralf Gladis.
“Being able to alert the merchant to its customer’s location has
become a crucial part of our fraud prevention process,” he
added.
Notably Computop reports that it has found that
75 percent of fraud attempts are perpetrated with a foreign card or
account.
75 percent of fraud attempts are perpetrated with a foreign card or
account.
This is similar to a finding by credit
information specialist Experian that in transactions where the
customer provided US shipping or billing addresses but had placed
the order from overseas, 68 percent were fraudulent.
information specialist Experian that in transactions where the
customer provided US shipping or billing addresses but had placed
the order from overseas, 68 percent were fraudulent.
Computop, which has some 800 customers and
processes 20 million transactions annually, joins other financial
service industry users of Quova solution including US bank Wells
Fargo, UK bank Alliance & Leicester and European payments
processors GlobalCollect, ClickandBuy and Wirecard.
processes 20 million transactions annually, joins other financial
service industry users of Quova solution including US bank Wells
Fargo, UK bank Alliance & Leicester and European payments
processors GlobalCollect, ClickandBuy and Wirecard.
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