In the latest version of its market leading e-commerce risk management platform, FraudGuard 5.0 integrates Sphonic's extensive datasets to give merchants more information with which to make far more accurate and fair payment acceptance decisions.

FraudGuard is an advanced point-and-click suite of risk management tools for tackling potential mobile and online card fraud by making smart, real-time decisions based on consumer data. Sphonic is an innovator in big data and applies third party vendor data to fraud, risk and Know Your Customer (KYC) functions. It aggregates large volumes of real-time data in risk processing, so end users can more efficiently discern genuine customers from fraudsters.

FraudGuard 5.0 gives businesses an enhanced ability to intelligently analyse a wider range of consumer information, seasonal trends and broader market data to make faster, targeted and intelligent decisions around unusual activity and assess genuine transactional risk. This 'smart' platform learns typical merchant and market behaviour as they evolve, and provides a better customer experience by drastically reducing the number of legitimate purchases which get declined.

"Providing the best experience for the end-customer is at the heart of everything we do," comments Dan Salmons, Managing Director, PayPoint Mobile and Online. "When it comes to card transactions, businesses need to find a balance between making sure they are spotting fraudulent activity and not alienating customers by declining legitimate card payments – which is often a fine line. With FraudGuard 5.0, merchants can decide whether to accept or decline a payment with far greater precision, drawing on real-time data. Our innovations mean the chance of a consumer's legitimate transaction being declined is significantly reduced, while merchants can have greater confidence that the transactions they accept won't subsequently be challenged."

FraudGuard 5.0 makes smart decisionss by understanding a customer's general shopping behaviour. It continually adapts these insights in line with market and merchant changes, thus isolating truly suspicious activity from both micro and macro trends. This is backed by detailed visual reports charting consumer behaviours against market averages and only highlighting specific anomalies where transactions truly need to be checked.

"Customers want to make sure that the payments they make online are safe and secure, but without the annoyance of having legitimate card transactions declined," comments Riten Gohil, CEO of Sphonic. "We've helped PayPoint enhance FraudGuard 5.0 by providing the real-time analysis necessary for companies to better manage risk through more accurate insights into consumer behaviour. Our instant calculations expose anything from seasonal behavioural trends through to marketing promotions on high-end products, so fraud teams get a more realistic insight into whether or not a purchase is fraudulent. This means genuine customers won't have their transactions declined and can instead enjoy the best online shopping experience possible."

Fraudguard 5.0 is released this Spring and will be made available immediately to all existing clients using the product. PayPoint's partnership with Sphonic will develop in coming months by enabling richer customer insight and enhanced decision making through the addition of external data sources.