The go-to trade association for all UK retailers, British Retail Consortium (BRC), is working with cutting-edge dispute processing and remediation company, Chargebacks911, to help its members better understand how to combat friendly fraud and chargebacks.

The partnership aims to slow the rapid growth of chargeback rates which continue to negatively impact retailer profits – UK online transactions grew by 7.5% in the last year alone, while related chargebacks rose by 23%.

In their new report, Going head-to-head with friendly fraud, Chargebacks911 and the BRC explore why the retail industry is being hit with more chargebacks than ever before, how financial institutions are adapting, and what retailers can do about this £100+ billion problem.

Discussing the issue, Monica Eaton-Cardone, COO and co-founder of Chargebacks911, explained: “So far this year, there have been over 140 rule changes surrounding the chargeback dispute process. Retailers were already struggling to understand how to handle disputes, but now it’s even more difficult to keep up – and they’re facing penalties and loss of revenue as a result.”

According to Monica, businesses struggle to identify invalid disputes, so often end up rejecting genuine payments and paying billions in administrative costs each year. And it’s not just these merchants who suffer – identifying fraudulent chargebacks costs acquiring and issuing banks unnecessary time, money and resources too.

Eaton-Cardone continued: “Making sure everyone is up to speed with the latest regulations is crucial if we want to tackle this industry-wide issue.”

Along with increased regulations for retailers, the report highlights how the demand for innovation in the shopping experience can also negatively impact payment disputes.

Andrew Cregan, Policy Advisor (Head of Payments) at BRC, noted: “While many retailers implement technologies like mobile commerce, voice commerce and one-click payments to compete with rivals and grow their customer base, without proper procedures in place to handle potential disputes, these payment methods can dramatically increase chargeback rates.

“Working with Chargebacks911, our goal is to keep retailers innovating and evolving to match customer demand in a way that doesn’t eat away at their profit margins.

“We’re delighted to be supporting an initiative that encourages open communication, education and support for all retailers, banks and card schemes – keeping card payments growing and payment disputes low in this digital era.”

As well as publishing an in-depth guide to chargebacks – the genuine and the fraudulent – Andrew and Monica will be co-hosting a webinar next month on the latest trends that retailers should be aware of, revenue-enhancing tips, and the chance for retailers to quiz the experts.

The webinar and Q&A session will take place on 22^nd August 2019. To sign-up, go to: https://brc.org.uk/events/payments-retail-the-impact-of-friendly-fraud.

For advice on how to adapt to the changing retail environment, download the full report, Going head-to-head with friendly fraud, here: https://ad.chargebacks911.com/special-retailer-report.