Verza’s Veronica™ is the global automated solution for PSP’s and individual merchants for fighting fraud at internet based transactions. Through a series of transparent queries, Veronica™ identifies high-risk transactions - without modifying customer behavior. The Veronica™ transaction allows the transaction system to decline transactions prior to authorization and settlement thus minimizing fraud consequences. Based on custom parameters and a risk profile, online transaction will be scored. This score is a compilation of a set of unique fraud checks. Based on this unique score, the transaction system can elect to authorize or decline the transaction. By systematically utilizing advanced analytics models to evaluate every transaction and customer, Veronica™ minimizes manual scrubbing techniques and decreases fraudulent transaction dramatically.

Although new online payment mechanisms are evolving, 97% of all Internet B-to-C transactions currently involve the use of a well-established payment option: the credit card. Credit cards have become not only the easiest ways to pay online, but are also at the center of the rapid growth in Internet fraud. Contributing to these circumstances are the failure of new technologies such as SET and other digital certificate schemes and the interest of Visa and MasterCard to establish their brands as de facto online payment mechanisms-regardless of fraud consequences. New initiatives such as MasterCard 3D secure and Verified by Visa are not yet rolled out globally and only have a 11% acceptance rate in the United States.
Many Internet merchants are increasingly faced with a larger number of charge-backs due to online credit card fraud. Online buyers can often claim their credit card was not used to complete an online purchase. With a limited number of customer-verification sources and in absence of a ‘real’ signature, the Internet merchant is usually on the losing end of the charge-backs that are “push“ through by buyers.
Charge-backs not only hurt the merchant’s bottom line, they can also affect the relationship with a merchant (acquiring) bank and can eventually lead to the termination of a merchant account and the ability to conduct business online.
For each of the forms of fraud outlined below, the consumer may actually be committing the fraud. For example the consumer may claim a card was stolen, but it was in fact not stolen and used in the transaction. This “I did not authorize this online transaction” argument constitutes (un)friendly fraud and is especially prevalent in the online transaction environment.
Claimed forms of Fraud

• Use of Stolen & Lost Credit Cards48%
• Skimming (card swiped in reader) 12%
• Mail intercept 10%
• Identity Fraud 9%
• Altered Cards 5%
• New counterfeit4%
• Other 12%

*Source:  PriceWaterHouseCoopers
In order to minimize fraudulent transactions, Verza has developed an extensive fraud-screening system, which will always screen for credit card authenticity prior to authentication and processing via a real-time clearing-house or gateway. The information that the customer provides is screened against established parameters and external data sources without complicating the transaction process and over-burdening the consumer.

Veronica™ has been in production since 1998, and has scored over more than 100 million online transactions. For example VEROTEL, a registered Payment Processor with Visa and MasterCard, requires all of its merchants to utilize the Veronica™ system. In an Internet transaction environment, where customers are not seen face-to-face and where the potential of online fraud is great, Veronica™ has been an invaluable tool in obtaining greater confidence in the transaction and the customer. As a result, all of VEROTEL merchants have been within the chargeback limits set by Visa and MasterCard for the last 10 years.