Loyalty scheme fraud up by 90%
Fraud is evolving rapidly beyond the point of the transaction to accounts such as loyalty programs and abuse of return policies, according to new research. Forter, an e-commerce fraud prevention specialist, has released the findings of its seventh Fraud Attack Index, finding that loyalty fraud increased by 89 per cent year-on-year, while the total dollar amount in online fraud increased by 12 per cent from last year.
WHSmith partners Mastercard for online payments
Mastercard has entered into an agreement with WHSmith, Funky Pigeon, Cult Pens and The Card Gallery to offer its Pay by Bank app to online shoppers. The app is an easy and secure way for customers to pay from their current bank account, using their trusted mobile banking app.
EBA updates SCA deadline for e-commerce firms
The European Banking Authority (EBA) has published an opinion on the deadline for the migration to Strong Customer Authentication (SCA), setting a deadline to 31 December 2020 and prescribing the expected actions to be taken during the migration period. This applies under the revised Payment Services Directive (PSD2) for e-commerce card-based payment transactions, recommending that national competent authorities (NCAs) take a consistent approach toward the SCA migration period across the EU, requiring their respective payment service providers (PSPs) to carry out the actions set out in the regulations.
CPI rise means extra £137m bill for retailers
A 1.7 per cent rise in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) will mean a £137 million for retailers who are already battling tough trading conditions on the UK High Street. Figures released yesterday showed that the inflation measure stood at 1.7 per cent - the weakest CPI figures since 2016 - as the UK economy absorbs Brexit-related uncertainty.
Research reveals PSD2 awareness gap
A new European-wide study has revealed the extent of disparity between retailers’ and online shoppers’ awareness of the second Payment Services Directive (PSD2). Riskified surveyed 2,000 consumers and 200 retailers - with respondents evenly split across the UK, Germany, France and Spain - finding that 88 per cent of retailers believed that consumers were ‘somewhat’ or ‘very aware’ of PSD2. However, 76 per cent of consumers reported that they haven’t even heard of it.
£5.75m fund to solve digital skills gap
The Department for Education and Nesta are set to launch a £5.75 million initiative aimed at developing tech innovations to help adults in England gain the skills they need for the automated and digitised workplaces of the future. The CareerTech Challenge is aimed at helping to fund and scale entrepreneurs and technologists to come up with solutions to the digital skills gap in industries such as retail and manufacturing, which are expected to experience automation in the coming years.
Retail sales stagnate in September: ONS
In the three months to September, moderate retail sales growth continued at 0.6 per cent, when compared with the previous three months, according to the latest Office for National Statistics (ONS) release. The quantity bought was flat in September when compared with the previous month, following a fall of 0.3 per cent in August, while the year-on-year growth rate showed growth of 3.1 per cent – with growth across all sectors except department stores and household goods.
Report urges collaboration on Click & Collect
New research from Barclaycard has revealed that since offering Click and Collect, a third of retailers have seen in-store sales increase. With the UK Click and Collect market set to grow 45 per cent to be worth almost £10 billion by 2023, retailers are planning to capitalise on this demand, with 90 per cent intending to invest in the service over the next five years.
ASOS profits slump 68 per cent
ASOS profits have nosedived by 68 per cent to £33.1 million from £102 million a year before, driven by “disruptive” issues with its global warehousing network in Germany and the US.The e-commerce giant’s annual report revealed that pre-tax profits had slipped, despite a 13 per cent increase in overall retail sales to £2.73 billion .
Retailers and customers ‘don’t see eye to eye’
Retailers are not meeting customer expectations, and in many cases are missing the fundamentals, according to Oracle Retail. For instance, the two sides dramatically disagree on how easy it is to return purchases – while 57 per cent of retailers noted that returning products was ‘very easy’, the same share of consumers disagreed and rated the return process as a ‘complete hassle’.
