There are 500 million people on Facebook. That’s 1/13th of the world’s population. Is is safe to say that 95% of the consumers to your website would be one of the t0p 7.5% of world’s computer savvy population and have a Facebook account? Here at PHWeb we believe Facebook could be the missing link to credit card authorization verification.
Facebook can take over fraud control where the credit card companies are (purposefully?) falling short. Facebook Credit Card Purchase Verification could save millions of dollars losses to consumers and banking institutions as well.
Our theory is this. When a credit card is stolen and used for a purchase, the criminals will likely make a new email address and order products for delivery online. It is rare that a thief will get your credit card #, CVV, email address for Facebook, Facebook password and email password. If you verify that email address on Facebook and there is no matching account, you will want to investigate further. This will easily protect you against the average criminal. Average criminals will not be able to build a Facebook account with friends in the original card owner’s location with other identifying data (friends, pictures) that help you, the merchant, verify the sale.
Romanian and Eastern European gangs may be harder to fool, as they may have “fake” Facebook profiles at the ready which could theoretically give them a stable of friends to add to a fake account from any location. If they do not have fake accounts today, they will in the future. Now if confirmed users, that’s a different story.
PHWeb recommends Facebook charge a small fee for it’s users to be definitively identified and confirmed. Once verified a Facebook user can also publicize their personal fraud controls on their profile like “Call me before any credit card sale” or “I rarely buy products on the internet” or “call me for any purchase over $50″ to assist merchants and prevent hassles when credit card theft occurs.
Speed is paramount, thieves need to hit quickly. If you use Facebook verification as a merchant, most credit card thieves will move on to another site.
On PHWeb’s other online businesses, we require a Facebook account for purchase approval and all correspondence must go through the email associated to that Facebook account. What do you think? Do you verify your customers on Facebook or other social networking site? Would you consider it? Would it help you reduce charge backs due to stolen credit cards? How can merchants work with Facebook to improve credit card fraud controls?
Your Thoughts?
