Case Study: Cartridge SAVE combats fraud with bespoke Axiar fraud prevention

Cartridge SAVE is the leading online retailer of Printer Cartridges - but this meant the company faced the problem of credit card fraud.

Cartridge SAVE started trading as an online business in 2003 at first using WorldPay, as its payment service provider. Before long the company started to experience chargebacks due to credit card fraud. The simple solution was to start reviewing all transactions to make sure the address matched, and to look for likely patterns of fraud.

As the company grew, manual review became more of a burden - each order required a check and this slowed the processing of orders, and tied up more and more time. The solution seemed simple. A move to Barclays ePDQ and enforcing address match through Address Verification System (AVS) meant that there was no need to check verify this information as the system completed this automatically, and rejected the transaction automatically. This meant the customer was informed at checkout stage on the Cartridge SAVE website and had the opportunity to correct a typing error if it was a genuine transaction.

Cartridge SAVE soon realised that this was not the ideal solution it had first appeared. In practice they found that the AVS system often did not contain accurate information. The cause of this could be a failure of the cardholder to inform their card issuer of an address change, or a difference in the presentation of the address information by the issuer. For example, the splitting of the first line across multiple lines by the issuer would result in an AVS fail where the card holder believed the information was correct. This meant that the customer was being told the information was wrong when they knew it was correct. The second problem was that enforcing AVS did not combat the problem of identity fraud - where the order contained the correct cardholder address, but the goods were being shipped to an alternative address.

Whilst ePDQ certainly gave an improvement in time required checking AVS information, the company was still experiencing credit card fraud. In addition to this, they were loosing out on additional revenue due to legitimate orders being declined.

The Solution:

Axiar Custom fraud scoring

Cartridge SAVE turned to Axiar to provide the solution to their fraud problem in 2006.

Firstly, Cartridge SAVE wanted to reduce the reliance on AVS data, but still make use of it. Their experience told them that the post code was more reliable and so it should form part of a test, but that the first line should be ignored. Secondly, and more importantly, Axiar fraud analysts worked with Cartridge SAVE staff to establish patterns of fraudulent ordering. This information was distilled into a set of rules based upon parameters such as the type and quantity of goods being ordered, and the status and timing of previous orders. Axiar then produced a custom order screening module which integrates seamlessly into the Axiar Payment Gateway.

Ian Cowley, Operations Director of Cartridge SAVE says:

"At Cartridge SAVE we see our Axiar custom fraud screening module as an essential part of our business, providing us with a competitive advantage. Compared with the way we used to work, we see more genuine orders, and have to spend far less time manually screening fraud. The end result is happier customers, and happier staff!"