Fraud Monitoring
Fraud monitoring is an part of our payment processing service and is included at no additional charge. ClearAccept uses a combination of electronic and manual screening methods using rules based logic to identify any unusual or suspicious transactions. While our system offers robust protection, merchants are also responsible for actively monitoring their accounts and identifying any irregular activity. While our system offers robust protection, merchants are also responsible for actively monitoring their accounts and identifying any irregular activity.
It's important for merchants to understand that just because a transaction is authorised does not mean it isn’t fraudulent. Authorisation only confirms that the payment method is valid and that sufficient funds are available — it does not verify the identity of the cardholder or the legitimacy of the transaction. Banks and card issuers may still flag or reverse transactions later if fraud is detected, so it remains the merchant’s responsibility to monitor for unusual or suspicious activity to help prevent chargebacks and losses.
Business-Specific Rule Parameters
ClearAccept use the transactional information provided at onboarding in order to create business specific rule-based parameters. The annual turnover, average transaction value and maximum transaction value along with the nature of the business are used to create custom parameters specific to your business. These parameters are under continuous review by the Transaction Monitoring team and amended where necessary to reflect the most current business’ transaction patterns. Any transactions triggered are manually reviewed by a member of the team.
Fraud Detection Methods
- All transactions are reviewed by our Transaction Monitoring Team.
- We use rules-based logic to identify suspicious activity across all payment channels.
- 3D Secure authentication is mandatory for all ECOM transactions, ensuring liability shift to the Issuing Bank for any fraudulent transactions that are authenticated.
- Transactions will be automatically declined if 3D Secure authentication is unavailable, incomplete or failed
- If the card/ customer details have been listed on our internal block list following notification of fraud from the Card Issuers
- The CVV is incorrect
Use of Historical Data
To detect potential fraud, ClearAccept may reference historical transaction data, including:
- Card numbers
- Addresses
- Email addresses
- Telephone numbers
- Customer transaction history
Transaction Monitoring & Manual Review
- All transactions are individually scored
- Flagged transactions are manually reviewed by the Transaction Monitoring Team.
- The team does not manually decline transactions but may reach out for:
o Additional details
o Suggested due diligence
o Clarifications regarding processing changes
Merchant Access & Visibility
Merchants have full access to the ClearAccept Portal, including:
- Real-time transaction review
- Address Verification Service (AVS) results
- Billing/shipping address comparison
- Card issuer details
- Reasons for transaction declines
All declined transactions and reasons are clearly visible.
Merchant Communication
The Transaction Monitoring Team may contact merchants to:
- Understand unusual activity or processing changes
- Discuss updates to existing rules
- Offer guidance on risk mitigation
Merchants can also initiate contact with the team to discuss:
- Specific transaction concerns
- Fraud and chargeback inquiries
While our system offers robust protection, merchants are also responsible for actively monitoring their accounts and identifying any irregular activity.
Steps taken following a fraudulent notification from the issuer:
- Contact the merchant via telephone or email to notify them of the fraud.
- Add specific data points from the transaction (where applicable and reasonable) to prevent further fraudulent transactions.
These data points may include:
- Email address
- Telephone number
- Name
- Postcode
