Sift Logo Several blue dots forming a sphere to the left of the word Sift in italic font.
  • Products

    Digital Trust & Safety Suite

    Fight fraud without sacrificing growth

    Learn more →

    Passwordless
    Authentication

    Account
    Defense

    Content
    Integrity

    Payment
    Protection

    Dispute
    Management

    Sift
    Connect

    PSD2
    Solution

    New Releases & Enhancements

  • Partners

    Sift Partner
    Program

    Join the leader in Digital Trust & Safety

    Learn more →

    Commerce platform partners


  • Industries

    One solution, many applications

    Learn how Sift can work for your industry

    Learn more →

    Featured industries


    Fintech

    Retail

    Food & Beverage

  • Customers

    See case studies by industry

    Sift works across every use case and region

    Learn more →

    Featured customers


  • Resources

    Explore our resources

    Access trends, guides, and insights from Sift

    Learn more →

    Blog

    Ebooks

    One Pagers

    Demos

    Videos

    Webinars

    Infographics

    Podcasts

    Trust & Safety University

  • Fraud Center
  • Company

    Why leaders choose Sift

    Technology, community, and partnership

    Learn more →

    Our mission: Help everyone trust the internet


    About

    Careers

    News & Press

Request a demo
Products
  • Digital Trust & Safety Suite
  • Passwordless Authentication
  • Account Defense
  • Content Integrity
  • Payment Protection
  • Dispute Management
  • Sift Connect
  • PSD2 Solution
  • New Releases & Enchancements
Why Sift
  • Salesforce
  • Magento
  • Shopify
Industries
  • Fintech
  • Retail
  • Food & Beverage
Customers
Resources
  • Blog
  • Ebooks
  • One Pagers
  • Demos
  • Videos
  • Webinars
  • Infographics
  • Podcasts
  • Trust and Safety University
Fraud Center
About
  • Search Careers
  • Our Company
  • Contact Us
  • Engineering Blog
Request a DemoSign In
  • Blog Home
  • Digital Trust & Safety
  • Fraud
< prev / next >
Share this article on LinkedIn
Tweet this article
Share this article on Facebook
SOCIALICON
Share this article via email

Stop Insulting Your Customers with False Positives

By Angela Marrujo  / 

10 Mar 2020

Online commerce continues to boom, with sales of physical goods projected to reach close to $600 billion in 2024. Of course, with this surge comes large volumes of transactions – some will be valid, but others will be fraudulent. Companies justifiably implement rigorous anti-fraud measures to keep scammers out, but in the process, mistakenly turn away legitimate customers, which is known in the payments industry as a “customer insult” or “false positive.”

When customer experience is paramount, businesses cannot afford to turn away legitimate transactions and risk putting revenue on the line. In fact, a PwC study found that just one negative customer experience will send consumers running for the proverbial exits. 

We recently polled 1,000 consumers in the U.S. ages 18 and above* and discovered that different types of friction – from declined payments to extra security measures at checkout – can cause brand abandonment.

Every purchase is at risk.

Our survey found that 36% of consumers have had a transaction falsely declined due to suspected fraud. And it doesn’t matter if a consumer has an established relationship with a brand, or is shopping with them for the first time — either way, approximately three-quarters of those surveyed have had their transactions declined, whether by a brand they’ve purchased from previously or in a first attempted online purchase with a business. 

Declined? Time to move on.

According to CNP’s 2018 Fraud Operations Study, 42% of businesses don’t know their false-positive rates. And more broadly, many simply view customer insults as a cost of doing business online. Unfortunately, spurning customers does more than the lost revenue from a single purchase. When a legitimate customer is turned away, many don’t simply try again later – they instead turn to the company that will fulfill their order. After their first online purchase was declined, nearly a quarter of both first-time and repeat customers found another vendor from which to make the same or a similar purchase. The rate of abandonment is even higher among Generation Z (people born between 1995 and 2015), with 36% jumping to another brand to make the same purchase. 

Consumers ditch the cart at the first sign of trouble.

Shopping cart abandonment is inevitable, with many users adding items to their cart with no intention to buy. But businesses can control user experience and the friction their users feel when trying to make a purchase. Customers can be unforgiving, as our survey found that 38% of online shoppers will quickly abandon their cart because of an additional security check, such as an email/text verification code or a CAPTCHA.

Fraud can be debilitating for businesses, but a high rate of false positives can jeopardize revenue. Retaining a loyal customer base while effectively fighting fraud requires a delicate balance. Businesses that adopt a Digital Trust & Safety strategy can not only reduce friction for their customers but also unlock revenue growth. 

For more information on how you can reduce false positives while accelerating growth, request a demo of our newly released Insult Monitor – an industry-first way to measure false positives and adjust fraud thresholds so you can accept more legitimate orders.

*Methodology: Survey conducted by Dynata on behalf of Sift. Dynata polled 1,000 adults via online survey across the United States, age 18+, between January 22nd and 23rd, 2020.

Related

customer experiencecustomer insultDigital Trust & Safetyfraudfraud managementfraud preventionInsult Monitor

Angela Marrujo

Angela Marrujo, Content Marketing Manager at Sift, is a lifelong gamer with a deep love for Nintendo, in particular. Illustration and music are her other passions. Angela is a San Francisco State University alumna and, prior to Sift, worked in PR and Marketing in the video game industry.

  • < prev
  • Blog Home
  • next >
Company
  • About Us
  • Careers
  • Contact Us
  • News & Press
  • Partner with us
  • Blog
Support
  • Help Center
  • Contact Support
  • System Status
  • Trust & Safety University
  • Fraud Management
Developers
  • Overview
  • APIs
  • Client Libraries
  • Integration Guides
  • Tutorials
  • Engineering Blog
Social

Don't miss a thing

Our newsletter delivers industry trends, insights, and more.

You're on the list.

You can unsubscribe at any time. Please see our Website Privacy Notice.

If you are using a screen reader and are having problems using this website, please email support@sift.com for assistance.

© 2022 Sift All Rights Reserved Privacy & Terms

Your information will be used to contact you about our service and subscribe you to our direct marketing communications. You can, of course, unsubscribe at any time. Please see our Website Privacy Notice.