Velocity Checks

April 19, 2022

Velocity Checks

What Are Velocity Checks?

Fraudsters often experiment with one fraudulent transaction to see if a debit or credit card will work. Once they have a transaction that passes through your payment system without raising any flags, they will place multiple orders within a short space of time.

Velocity checks trigger depending on the number of transactions a purchaser makes in a period of time. The amount of transactions that flag a velocity check varies from business to business and industry to industry.

As soon as the check-out page has redirected to a payment method or 3D Secure, this counts as an attempt. This could therefore contribute to the number of transactions a customer has placed, and whether a velocity check is triggered.

How Are Velocity Checks Carried Out?

Velocity checks allow you to review customer data based on a variety of factors such as:

  • Email Address
  • Device Used to Place The Order
  • Customer Name
  • Single IP Address
  • Billing Address
  • Shipping Address
  • Card Number

If the card or bank account number is already used by another shopper a velocity check is triggered. This is a method of fraud prevention as fraudsters often create multiple accounts.

Fraudsters also often use the same cardholder name when testing cards, as this makes it more simple to automate their data input process. Checking a cardholder’s name can determine if it is being used for other transactions with the merchant.

Can Velocity Checks Flag Legitimate Buyers?

Checks do run the risk of giving false positives, but the odds of this happening are comparatively low. Velocity checks should operate as a cumulative indicator, but not your only line of defence in fraud protection.

You could have multiple, legitimate purchasers with the same name or who live in the same building. Relying on velocity checks only would flag these transactions and you run the risk of rejecting legitimate buyers.

To ensure the technology is working at its most efficiently, ensuring you are leveraging the relevant data elements is vital.

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Velocity checks are the most accurate when they are used alongside other tools to reduce potential fraud. You should look at implementing:

  • AVS Checks
  • Geolocation
  • Biometrics
  • CVV Verification
  • SCA

Velocity Checks Don’t Prevent Post Transactional Fraud

Not all potential fraud occurs before the completion of the transaction. Fraud can occur post-sale as well, such as chargebacks and friendly fraud.

Friendly fraud is projected to represent 60-80% of all chargebacks by 2023. Ensuring you have a fraud protection system implemented is vital to protect your customers and your business.

There are fraud management tools you can utilise to reduce friendly fraud. Cardstream offers fraud prevention through Kount. Why not look at how you can start getting the most out of your transactions.