Comprehensive Risk Assessment

Fraud never stays the same, and fraudsters seemingly never sleep. So, relying solely on automated systems and out-of-the-box software solutions can leave your business vulnerable to significant revenue loss, customer trust erosion, and mounting fines from financial institutions.

To effectively combat fraudsters and safeguard your enterprise, you need a comprehensive risk assessment that goes beyond the surface and delves deep into your fraud prevention measures. This is where IPS’ over 20 years of industry expertise can change the game.

Why a Comprehensive Risk Assessment Matters

Without a holistic view of your fraud losses and chargebacks, your business may suffer from constant financial bleeding. IPS’ comprehensive risk assessment helps you plug the leaks by identifying weak points and vulnerabilities in your existing fraud prevention strategies. 

Protecting Customer Trust

As fraud-related incidents escalate, so does the risk of losing customer trust. Frequent false positives or slow-reacting machine learning detection systems can alienate legitimate customers, leading to a decline in sales and customer loyalty. A comprehensive risk assessment ensures that your fraud prevention measures strike the right balance between security and customer experience.

Navigating Compliance and Fines

Inadequate fraud prevention can result in fines imposed by banks and regulatory bodies. IPS’ risk assessment not only protects your bottom line but also ensures your business remains compliant with industry standards and regulations.

The IPS-Built Solution

At IPS, we understand that every business is unique, with its own set of challenges and fraud prevention needs. That’s why our risk assessment service is highly customizable and tailored to your specific requirements.

Understanding Your Needs

Our process begins with a deep understanding of your business. We work closely with your teams to determine the scope of the risk assessment. Whether you want a comprehensive review of your entire fraud mitigation approach, or a specific area scrutinized, such as a particular product line or type of good or service, we’ve got you covered.

Data Collection and Analysis

During the risk assessment process, our dedicated project teams collect relevant data securely, either on your systems or ours, depending on your preferences. We scrutinize internal controls, transaction monitoring systems, and the effectiveness of your fraud detection tools to gain valuable insights into your current state.

Identifying Gaps and Vulnerabilities

IPS identifies gaps and vulnerabilities in your fraud prevention measures, offering practical recommendations to strengthen your fraud defenses and general practices. For instance, we might suggest collecting more customer data during sign-up to enhance your ability to make informed decisions on customer or fraudster activity earlier in the account life cycle. Or we may highlight customer service script issues that lead to problematic exchanges between struggling customers and your support staff.

Translating Findings into Action

We don’t just provide recommendations; we assist you in translating assessment findings into actionable solutions. Whether it’s adjusting risk rule sets, conducting proactive sweeps to prevent bot-created accounts, or something as simple as suggesting two-factor authentication, we’re with you every step of the way.

Customization and Tailoring for Your Business

IPS prides itself on delivering personalized solutions that cater to your unique challenges. We don’t propose one-size-fits-all changes; instead, we adapt our approach to your specific needs.

Here are two examples of how IPS tailored solutions for different businesses:

The In-House Solution

For a client handling all fraud prevention in-house, we provided guidance on identifying and mitigating patterns of risky activity. We built SQL queries and first-party language queries to identify and prevent specific fraudulent behavior and collaborated closely with the client’s engineering team to ensure success.

All-In-One Platform Optimization

Another client relied on an all-in-one fraud tool. IPS helped set up the tool, suggested control placement, and helped continually refine the system based on evolving fraud patterns that we identified. Our human intelligence team worked in tandem with the client’s team to fine-tune rule sensitivity and reduce false positives.

Balancing Security and Customer Experience

IPS’ unique advantage lies in its extensive experience handling customer escalations and understanding the delicate balance between effective fraud prevention and a seamless customer experience. We’ve witnessed thousands of customer interactions and reviewed thousands of errantly blocked transactions. This has enabled us to offer expert guidance on preserving customer trust during the support process.

Measuring Success and Continuous Improvement

IPS believes in measuring success through Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) tailored to each client’s objectives. These KPIs ensure that successes are tracked and reported, while areas for improvement are identified and addressed. Over the years, IPS has saved businesses millions in fraud losses, banned countless bad actors, and protected loyalty customers from abuse. The ability to track and report this level of impact has proven priceless for our clients.

Ongoing Support and Adaptation

While IPS can provide short-term risk assessments, many clients opt for long-term partnerships. In these cases, IPS becomes an integral part of your fraud prevention team, handling everything from strategy refinement suggestions to end-to-end investigations. We stay ahead of evolving fraud threats by continuously monitoring the industry landscape, attending relevant events, and fostering a culture of learning among our staff.

Industry Expertise and Success Stories

With two decades of experience, IPS leverages industry expertise to offer valuable insights during risk assessments. IPS has successfully served clients across various sectors, including finance, e-commerce, and more, and our focus on tailoring solutions to each client’s unique needs is what makes IPS a powerful collaborator.

IPS’ comprehensive risk assessment service is the cornerstone of a robust fraud prevention strategy. By customizing solutions, balancing security with customer experience, and staying ahead of evolving threats, IPS ensures that your business remains resilient against fraud and helps safeguard your revenue and customer trust.

In the next part of this series, Fraud Detection and Monitoring Strategy, we’ll go into detail about how much nuance is involved in fraud investigations and how, although machine learning and AI will likely always be part of future platforms, we think a human intelligence element is the backbone of any fraud team. Manual review and human investigation are still thriving and there’s many reasons for that. We’ll explain how these two initiatives can work in tandem as the best solution for protecting your business from losses.