More retailers supporting mobile, even as fraud concern is up

by. Brian Day

The mobile channel is playing a growing role in retail business. In fact, mobile commerce now accounts for 20 percent of retailers’ business, according to a recent report.

The report, “Mobile Payments and Fraud Survey,” conducted by CardNotPresent.com, Kount and The Fraud Practice, reports 66 percent of merchant respondents said they currently support mobile, a 30 percent upsurge from last year’s responses. Merchants that offer a mobile app for online shopping climbed from 21 percent to 54 percent, while nearly 50 percent now have a mobile website. The report also revealed a growing retailer awareness of mobile fraud risks.

Specifically, 32 percent of merchants see mobile as riskier than standard e-commerce, increasing from 24 percent in 2013. Retailers are also more aware that standard e-commerce fraud processes are not enough for managing mobile channels, with fewer respondents this year seeing current protocols as sufficient. Thirty-two percent indicate fraud prevention explicitly designed for mobile is growing in importance – nearly twice the respondents who said the same last year.

“Clearly mobile commerce is a source of tremendous opportunity for online retailers, and their focus on this channel has grown considerably each year,” said Don Bush, vice president of marketing at Kount. “Merchants also realize…that protecting and growing business requires a fraud solution that integrates with all mobile platforms without any impact to the customer experience or [their] business.”

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