Operation Choke Point has the entire financial industry on edge, with changing regulations, government fines, overly cautious banks and enraged merchants suddenly left without a merchant bank account. All things considered, it can be difficult to determine how much of what is in the news is hype, and how much is real. In the end, the best way to keep your merchant portfolio on the up-and-up continues to be careful due diligence and monitoring of your merchants and ACH originators.
We want to all believe that what we purchase on the internet can’t hurt us. We want to trust that the items we purchase from online merchants will be legitimate, that they will come to us in the condition we expect, and that they will be safe. We want to believe that the flea medication we order for our pets isn’t fake, or that the vitamins we just paid for contain what we expect. That unfortunately is not the case, as the World Health Organization estimates that 10% of medicines available globally are likely counterfeit, with up to 30% being counterfeit in some areas of Asia, Africa and Latin America.
New KYC Governor™ solution from G2 Web Services helps banks comply with Operation Choke Point guidelines for due diligence and monitoring of merchants and third-party payment processors (TPPPs).
BELLEVUE, WA, May 8, 2014 – G2 Web Services, the leading provider of merchant risk management solutions, today announced a new merchant investigation and monitoring solution that helps banks identify and manage high-risk merchants and third-party payment processors, a focus of the U.S. DOJ probe Operation Choke Point. Operation Choke Point aims to reduce illegal transactions by targeting banks as the gateway to the payment system, opening banks and their risk management processes up to intense scrutiny. The new G2 solution, KYC Governor, helps banks prevent processing payments for illegal and fraudulent businesses by identifying them before a transaction is even initiated. KYC Governor provides in-depth merchant and third-party payment processor due diligence, plus ongoing merchant risk, fraud and reputation monitoring.
Last month, a European acquirer reached out to us to report a fraudulent merchant in their portfolio. Using the G2 Merchant Map®, our team quickly identified 24 other data points and linked five other G2 clients to the merchant. These clients were alerted, and provided us with even more detail on the reported merchant. From there, we identified 7 more data points and an additional G2 client.
G2 Web Services Celebrates Ten Years of Success Providing World-Class Merchant Intelligence Solutions to the Payments Processing Industry
In 2004, G2 was established as a noble endeavor to help law enforcement investigate and identify cyber-criminals and digitally trace their illegal online activity. Within 10 years, G2 quickly grew and extended its reach to help nearly 300 strategic clients and partners spanning across 50+ countries, and providing innovative, market-leading global merchant intelligence solutions to the payments processing industry that help identify fraud and mitigate financial risk.
As 2013 draws to a close, I would like to take a moment on behalf of G2 Web Services to thank all of our clients, friends and associates for a very successful, productive and eventful year. In the span of a little over a year as President of G2, we have seen the scope of risks and challenges we collectively face in the payments industry continue to rapidly expand. From the emergence of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, to the rise and demise of cyberlockers like Hotfile, and the explosion of online marketplaces – the risk profile of payments is changing by the day. 2013 has been a year of collaboration and innovation at G2, with an even greater focus on listening to our clients and developing new features and solutions to address emerging risks in the payments industry. As a result, G2 continues to lead the effort to understand and manage merchant risk in the payment system.
Last week, G2 Web Services attended the MasterCard Global Risk Management Conference in Malta, which focused on bringing together industry leaders to discuss the latest tools in fraud prevention. G2 presented on a number of topics, including compliance best practices, payment facilitator risk, and fraud prevention within the payments community. G2 also launched G2 FraudFile, a new fraud reporting and prevention solution, at the conference.
G2 Web Services announces FraudFile, a new fraud reporting and prevention solution that enables payment providers to prevent fraud at boarding, receive fraud alerts on current merchants, and report global fraud loss data to a central, secure location.
ST. JULIANS, MALTA, October 15, 2013 – G2 Web Services, leading global provider of merchant risk management solutions, today announced the launch of G2 FraudFile. This fraud loss prevention solution for acquirers and payment providers identifies fraudulent and potentially fraudulent merchants at boarding and alerts participants of identified fraud on an ongoing basis. FraudFile provides a unique, global, and system-neutral location for acquirers to report fraud loss data and to protect against future fraud loss, particularly from bust-out merchants and rapidly growing fraud rings.
G2 Web Services founding partner, Robert Caldwell, spoke last week at the first annual International Acquiring Forum in London. As a speaker on the panel “The Dark Side of Acquiring: The Temptations of Volume from Non-Traditional Merchants”, Bob was joined by other industry experts, including: Alan Goslar, Chairman of PAY.ON; Stanley Skoglund, Chief Risk and Compliance Officer for Credorax Group; and Catherine Cummings, Senior Director of the International Centre for Missing and Exploiting Children who each presented on different topics pertaining to the overall panel theme.
Roy Banks, former CEO of Accelerated Payment Technologies, Inc. and President of Authorize.Net, has been appointed to the G2 Web Services Board of Directors to help guide the strategic growth of the company.
BELLEVUE, WA, September 25, 2013 – G2 Web Services, a leading global provider of payment risk management services, today announced that Roy Banks has been appointed as the newest member of the G2 Board of Directors. As an experienced payments industry executive with a history of successful executive leadership and management, Banks will be a key advisor for G2 Web Services.
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