Fraud & Security

Growth in human-initiated bot attacks outpaced growth in automated bot attacks in the second half of 2021. That’s according to the latest Cybercrime Report from LexisNexis Risk Solutions. Automated bot attacks globally increased 32% for June through December last year over the same period in 2020, trailing the 46% spike …

Lax credit checks, minimal personal data requested, and fast loan approval. What’s not to love about buy now, pay later (BNPL) options if you’re a cybercriminal? From creating fake identities to exploiting flaws in providers’ data-management tools, bad actors have been quick to take advantage of these fast-growing, convenient finance …

Ransomware payments exploded last year, with the average payment rising 78% year-over-year to $541,010, according to data compiled by cybersecurity firm Palo Alto Networks.Blackbaud Inc., a cloud software company serving nonprofits, said clients of its Blackbaud Merchant Services unit can now accept payments via both PayPal and Venmo in the United …

The popularity of debit cards for card-not-present transactions, particularly online payments, is surging, and a new proposal from an industry trade group could expand that popularity while preventing fraud and facilitating merchants’ transaction-routing choices. The proposal is contained in a white paper released Tuesday by the U.S. Payments Forum, an …

Mastercard Inc. early Wednesday said it will launch two new payments tools that rely on the card network’s rapidly growing stake in open banking and account-to-account transactions. The new digital tools, which Mastercard says will not be available until later this year, are expected to address risk and uncertainty in …

The Brink’s Co. said its BLUbeem point-of-sale cash-management platform is now available through the Clover POS technology from Fiserv Inc.Paysign Inc., a provider of prepaid cards for the health-care industry, reported $8.8 million in fourth quarter 2021 revenue, a 21% increase year-over-year. Purchase volume in the quarter rose 13.2%. Cardholders totaled 4.3 million at …

Payments provider Trust Payments launched Stor, an e-commerce platform for small and medium-size businesses, and is inviting independent sales organizations, banks, and other third-party players to market the service to merchants. The new product is based on technology Trust Payments acquired earlier this year.NoFraud, an online fraud prevention service, released NoFraud Checkout, …

Mobile point-of-sale provider FreedomPay said it has signed Sephora USA, a retail chain offering beauty products at more than 500 stores.The total value of consumer credit card rewards globally will rise 15% to $108 billion by 2026 from $92 billion this year, fueled by increasing adoption of cobranded cards issued by merchants, according to …

Escalent Inc., an analytics and advisory firm, said it acquired Mercator Advisory Group, adding to its payments advisory portfolio. Escalent acquired Javelin Strategy & Research in 2019. Current Mercator president and chief executive Robert Misasi will help with the transition before leaving these positions.MoneyGram International Inc. agreed to pay a civil monetary penalty of …

Fraudsters targeted fintechs at an alarming rate in 2021, according to Sift Science Inc.’s first-quarter 2022 Digital Trust & Safety Index. The index reveals that the payment-fraud attack rate across fintechs within Sift’s network increased a whopping 70% in 2021 compared to 2020. The attack rate is defined as the …