Balancing growth & Fraud prevention in APAC with online merchant account

The APAC economy is emerging as a new leader in global trade. Ecommerce in this region has flourished extraordinarily leading to the booming of digital payments and cross-border transactions via the internet. However the fraud trends also evolve simultaneously, resulting in the need of balancing business growth and fraud prevention. Now e-commerce companies in APAC can leverage the advantages of online merchant accounts to approach the new solution.

Balancing growth & Fraud prevention in APAC with online merchant account

Asia Pacific is expected to outperform the rest of the globe in terms of ecommerce spending, accounting for 64.3% of worldwide spending.

However, as ecommerce expands, so does fraud. According to a FIS survey, 84 % of merchants in APAC have experienced revenue losses as a result of payment fraud, with synthetic identity and account takeover being the most common causes of operational and revenue losses.

What are the best practices in fraud detection that won’t scare away the customers while protecting the organization from large financial losses?

APAC digital payments trends

Several factors (selectively captured below) had provided a clear path for continuing payments growth across Asia as we approached 2020.

The rapidly growing number of connected and digitally active consumers was the most important of these, with flourishing e-commerce markets increasing the need for digital solutions. With the advent of tough new companies such as telecommunications corporations, fintechs, "big technologies," and other conglomerates, the competitive landscape was heating up at the same time, prompting incumbents to step up their own innovation efforts.

Meanwhile, policymakers worked to standardize infrastructure while encouraging competition, promoting real-time payments, digital know-your-customer (KYC), and a variety of local payment schemes.

Promoting real-time payments, digital know-your-customer (KYC)

According to a research of McKinsey & Company, There are 7 emerging payments trends across emerging and developed Asia:

1. Digital wallets and QR codes will be the norm in the future.

The current momentum gained by e-wallet providers and QR-enabled solutions is projected to accelerate the shift away from cash, especially in emerging economies, with contactless payments serving as a driving force in developed Asia. Account-to-account transfers are also projected to become more common.

2. The battle between banks and platforms will become more intense.

Banks have a “bonus”: they can win developing Asia by using their e-wallets. Platforms surpass at providing a positive consumer experience. In developed markets, experts view digital ecosystems (e.g., Kakao in South Korea) and big tech players (e.g. Google, Facebook) as better positioned to prevail, given the superior user experience and ubiquitous reach of “super apps” (which address the full array of consumers’ digital needs) offered by these players and increasingly connected to funding sources like bank accounts and credit cards.

3. Current-account relationships will decouple.

Due to the reduction of friction and transfer time, many users have chosen e-wallets rather than current accounts. As a result, banks in other regions have already begun the rebundling process, offering more added value to the product features which are not necessarily relevant to financial service in order to enhance customer experience.

4. With new business strategies, acquiring will see a return.

Lower merchant discount rates (MDRs) and faster settlement will enable smaller merchants to adapt quicker in online business. There will be more medium and large enterprises join the online acquiring industry, leading to an intensive competition between local legacies and global providers.

5. Physical infrastructure will become less important.

Banks can pursue a utility model, outsourcing, or pooling ATMs when cash demand drops. Banks, on the other hand, might serve as a service provider for digital currencies by offering local clearing and settlements.

6. Bilateral cross-border partnerships will accelerate.

Cross-border payments in Asia are expected to wide spread like SEPA (Single Euro Payments Area) in European countries. In addition, regional ecosystem players could provide comprehensive cross-border services to other neighboring countries or regions.

7. Consolidation could drive value-chain “horizontalization”

64% of survey respondents expect consolidation along the value chain. For instance, ecosystems purchasing issuers and payment gateways will combine together.

The challenges digital payments

As a survey information of Business Insider India , the payment industry in APAC region is facing huge challenges in tackling fraud trends.

• According to a new survey by FICO in Asia Pacific, four out of five banks believe that the advent of real-time payments has resulted in an increase in fraudulent transactions.
• More than half of the financial institutions polled believe fraud will rise in the coming year.
• Social engineering is a typical approach for hackers to go around the system by tricking people into disclosing sensitive information.

The nine most common examples of social engineering are:

1. Phishing: is a method of stealing information using false emails, websites, and text messages.
2. Spear phishing: Email is used to carry out targeted assaults on individuals or businesses.
3. Baiting: is a type of social engineering attack that promises a reward to the victim.
4. Malware: Victims are duped into believing that malware has been installed on their computer and that it will be deleted if they pay a fee.
5. Pretexting: is the use of a fictitious identity to deceive people into divulging personal information.
6. Quid pro quo: uses an exchange of information or services to persuade the victim to take action.
7. Tailgating: is a method of gaining physical entry to a secure structure or region by relying on human trust.
8. Vishing: urgent voicemails persuade victims that they must respond immediately to avoid arrest or other danger.
9. Water-Holing: is a sophisticated social engineering assault that uses malware to infect both a website and its users.

New Security Standard for Asia’s E-Commerce

With the rise of online commerce, Asian banks and payment service providers have shown a strong desire to implement 3-D Secure 2.0, or 3DS2. This is an enhanced version of the 3DS authentication protocol for card payments that provides higher security and a more seamless shopping experience.

The rise of e-commerce in APAC countries has impacted significantly on merchants. Nowadays, online businesses need to care more about the rate of cart abandonment, friction in online payment and customer experience. Therefore, seamless flow in checkout payment is very crucial. Online transactions are safer and smoother with the new version of 3DS, improving both consumer experience and income for merchants.

New Security Standard for Asia’s E-Commerce - Online merchant account

Operating an internet business comes with massive difficulties that every leader has to confront. It is more challenging when it comes to protecting personal data of customers and exceeding customer expectations.

Gain trust with online merchant account

Online merchant accounts are indispensable parts of e-commerce. Normally, we understand the definition of “What is merchant account?” only on the surface. In deep, an online merchant account is more than just a user account for merchants to manage online transactions from customers.

An online merchant account is a business bank account or company bank account that enables an online business to accept and process credit/debit card payments. Online merchant accounts require a partnership between a company and a merchant acquiring bank, which handles all communications in an electronic payment transaction.

Apart from accepting payment cards, online merchant accounts also support e-commerce firms that handle more types of payment methods such as e-wallets, cryptocurrencies, internet banking transfers and more.

Online merchant accounts are key components of e-commerce. They act as fund management tools that enable merchants to collect electronic payments on their e-commerce websites and withdraw funds to their bank accounts. Besides, online merchants can also track transaction reports in real time, chargeback rates, etc. in detail.

When customers make a purchase, the funds must first be authorized and processed before they can be deposited into the merchant's account.

A few safeguards are in place to protect merchants from card fraud and to ensure that the consumer has the funds to pay for merchants. The money is paid directly to the merchant account after their customers' card payments are checked following the transaction.

Most merchants rely heavily on merchant accounts to run their businesses. When it comes to selecting a merchant account service provider, merchants have a number of options, with transaction costs playing an important role. Merchant acquiring banks, which work with merchants to facilitate electronic payments, provide merchant accounts.

If a brick and mortar business chooses not to accept electronic payments and only accepts cash, they do not need to open a merchant account and can instead rely on a basic deposit account at any bank. However, because electronic payments are the only option for online businesses, they must establish merchant account partnerships as part of their business operations.

In this part, we will help you to answer the question “ why do you need a merchant account?”. When you run an ecommerce business, you need to open a merchant account. If you apply for merchant account online, then there will be numerous merchant account benefits to discover.

• Improves cash flow
• Increases sales
• Remains competitive in a challenging market
• Checkout Payment
• Account Management
• Custom Payment Page
• Mobile and Tablet Payment Page
• Risk Management
• Real-time Risk Management
• 3D Secure Transaction
• Fully PCI DSS compliant
• Tokenization
• Multi Currency support
• Diverse payment methods acceptance

There are various pricing packages available when you apply for merchant account online. At PayCEC, we offer some merchant account fees depending on your business needs.

To apply for merchant account online, you can visit paycec.com and follow the simple steps below.

Step 1: Enter information

Sign up with PayCEC team by click to [Sign up] button on paycec.com

Step 2: Document submission

Prepare your company profile including:

• Company website
• Business information
• Business activities

Step 3: Integration support

PayCEC Relationship Manager will contact and support you in onboarding and merchant account integration

Step 4: Go live

Use full features of payment service and ongoing 24/7 maintenance support

For more information, you can contact our relationship managers to have detailed consultation and online support via email [email protected].

Read more:

• Online Payment Gateway
• Electronic payment gateway
• C2C payment gateway
• Online payment gateway solutions
• What is difference between 2D and 3D payment gateway?
• Difference between payment gateway and merchant account

About us

PayCEC was established in response to the growing need of businesses to accept online payments more quickly and easily. In the new media era, our payment flow has evolved to work seamlessly and effectively across all platforms and devices. We pride ourselves on combining superior technology with first-class customer service.

PayCEC is a truly global payments platform that not only allows customers to get paid but also withdraws funds to their Business accounts in various currencies.

We have created an open and secure payments ecosystem that people and businesses choose to securely transact with each other online and on mobile devices.

PayCEC Team

• [email protected]
• +44 2032 864370
• www.paycec.com