Ethoca has partnered with French payment system Cartes Bancaires to develop the CB Alerts portal that helps online merchants collaborate with card-issuing banks to lower chargebacks and reduce fraud. The solution, which works in near-real-time, gives merchants an early warning of cardholder-confirmed fraudulent transactions, enabling merchants to block an illegitimate sale, and/or prevent the shipment of goods, as well as the provision of services.

“Ethoca is honored to have been chosen to work with CB to help e-merchants and French banks reduce fraud and eliminate the need to raise chargebacks,” Ethoca EVP of Business Development Trevor Clarke said. “Merchants are now able to take immediate action in cases of confirmed fraud and are free [to grow] their businesses and [offer] their customers exceptional experiences.”

Merchant subscribers to CB Alerts get notification of fraudulent transaction activity as soon as piracy, loss, or theft of a payment card is reported to the bank by the cardholder. The solution can automate the notification process for larger merchants with higher volumes.

“We launched CB Alerts as part of our desire to enrich the services provided to merchants and banks,” Philippe Laulanie, CEO at Groupement des Cartes Bancaires CB, said. “Security is in the DNA of CB, along with the implementation of the PSD2, RTS, and strong authentication, this portal will help to fight e-commerce fraud.”

Cartes Bancaires is the leading payment system in France. Last year, the firm boasted 68+ million cards in circulation and nearly 12 billion transactions totaling more than $640 billion (€564 billion). Cartes Bancaires was founded in 1984 to provide the country with interoperable universal card payment and cash withdrawal systems. As of 2017, CB has more than 100 banks and payment institution members globally.

Ethoca demonstrated its Ethoca Alerts solution at FinovateEurope 2016. This fall, the company announced a partnership with American Express, leveraging its Ethoca Eliminator solution to help AMEX card holders access the detailed transaction information they need to resolve customer service calls faster. This spring, the company launched its integrated solution suite, which features Ethoca Eliminator, Ethoca Alerts, as well as Enhanced Representments. This latter feature helps merchants better understand chargeback processing and evidence rules to make it easier for them to determine how and when to challenge transaction disputes.

With $45 million in funding courtesy of investors such as Spectrum Equity, Pivot Investment Partners, and Difference Capital, Ethoca is based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and was founded in 2005. More than 5,400 merchants in 40+ countries benefit from Ethoca’s services and solutions. The company’s customers include eight of the top 10 North American e-commerce brands, 14 of the top 20 North American card issuers, and six of the top ten U.K. card issuers.

American Express merchants and card members in the U.S. just won a new ally when it comes to quickly resolving disputes related to card purchases. Ethoca Eliminator, developed by leading  technology solution provider Ethoca, will enable card holders to get more detailed transaction information in real-time, making it easier for them to communicate with AMEX Customer Care professionals during customer service calls.

“American Express is committed to providing merchants and card members (with) a simple process for resolving disputes,” SVP of Global Strategy & Capabilities with AMEX’s Global Merchant & Network Services Group, Priscilla Kam said. “Ethoca’s platforms can help prevent card member disputes before they happen, helping merchants save time and costs associated with disputes and chargebacks.”

The new capability is expected to be available in the first few months of 2019. Ethoca Eliminator serves as a complement to the company’s Ethoca Alerts solution, which American Express uses to alert merchants to possible fraudulent transactions.

“Our suite of collaboration-based solutions is focused increasingly on preventing unnecessary disputes before they ever disrupt a customer purchase journey,” Ethoca CMO and Product Officer Keith Briscoe said. “(This) ultimately help(s) to ensure a better experience for all parties in the ecosystem.”

Ethoca demonstrated its Ethoca Alerts solution at FinovateEurope 2016. The company launched its new Integrated Solution Suite this spring which, in addition to Ethoca Eliminator and Ethoca Alerts, also features Enhance Representments. This third feature makes it easier for merchants to leverage Ethoca’s knowledge of chargeback processing and evidence rules to challenge transaction disputes more effectively.

Founded in 2005 and headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Ethoca won Most Innovative Online Solution at the Fraud Awards 2018 earlier this month. In August, the company picked up a trio of honors at the Australian Fraud Awards 2018.

Ethoca’s solutions are used by more than 5,400 merchants in more than 40 countries, serving 590+ card issuers in 20+ countries. Eight of the top ten North American ecommerce brands, 14 of the top 20 North American card issuers, and six of the top ten U.K. card issuers use Ethoca’s technology.

Ethoca, a collaboration network that aims to enhance merchant card acceptance and reduce chargebacks, launched an Integrated Solution Suite this week.

Merchants who leverage the new suite of tools not only mitigate chargebacks from genuine fraud, friendly fraud, and false claims, they also facilitate increased card acceptance rates. The suite is comprised of three main solutions, Ethoca Eliminator, Ethoca Alerts and Enhanced Representments.

Ethoca Eliminator allows card issuers to leverage merchant intelligence– such as shopping cart details, IP address, and account details– when the customer clicks on a transaction within their mobile banking app or calls into a bank’s call center to investigate the purchase. With this process, cardholders are able to better recognize their own transactions instead of assuming they are fraudulent. This helps avoid situations when good transactions are unwittingly reported as fraud. When a top five U.S. card issuer and major online merchant piloted Eliminator, they found that 38% of disputes that would have become chargebacks were deflected. More than 15 major card issuers and several digital merchants have signed on to begin using Ethoca Eliminator throughout 2018.

The company most recently demoed its flagship product, Ethoca Alerts, at FinovateEurope 2016 in London. When a cardholder goes through the Eliminator process and still insists a transaction is fraudulent, Ethoca taps into its network of card issuers who confirm or repudiate the transaction in question. When a transaction is confirmed to be fraudulent, Ethoca alerts its network of merchants who stop the delivery of the good or service in question to avoid the chargeback.

The third product in the suite is Enhanced Representments. This tool helps merchants who wish to challenge transaction disputes by leveraging Ethoca’s knowledge of chargeback processing and evidence rules. You can think of it as a court session held to keep things fair for both the merchant and the disputing consumer as they sort through the evidence. In the press release, Ethoca describes this as decreasing pain “for card issuers who are often negatively impacted by indiscriminate representment behaviors.”

“Ethoca’s belief is that a layered approach – powered by the global collaboration network we pioneered – is the only real solution to combat the pervasive friction and poor customer experience typical of today’s ecommerce environment,” said Keith Briscoe, Chief Marketing & Product Officer at Ethoca. “This new solution suite takes us one step closer to our vision: creating a new set of rails for the rapid exchange of rich transaction data and intelligence designed to finally make frictionless ecommerce a reality,” he added.

Founded in 2005, Ethoca is headquartered in Toronto, Canada. The company is partnered with more than 5,400 merchants in 40+ countries and 585 card issuers in 20+ countries to help them avoid losses from card not present (CNP) transactions. This network includes eight of the top ten North American ecommerce brands, 14 of the top 20 North American card issuers, and six of the top ten U.K. card issuers. Andre Edelbrock is CEO.