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How to get more from social commerce this Christmas

25 Nov 2021

The world of social media moves at such a pace, that it can be hard to keep up. So Maybe* have done the hard work for you, and have pulled together some recent social commerce news, tips and... Read more…

Just a Card – Indie Week is here and it's not too late to get involved!

25 Nov 2021

An antidote to the fast-purchase culture of Black Friday, Just a Card – Indie Week is your chance to shine, your opportunity to celebrate and share your work, stories and communities,... Read more…

How fraudsters are exploiting customers using popular BNPL service providers

23 Nov 2021

Improperly regulatedBuy Now Pay Later services aren't just growing in popularity among consumers, they're also proving to be a hit with criminals.
Read more…

Download the ShopKind Christmas assets now

22 Nov 2021

All retailers are encouraged to download the print and social media ShopKind campaign materials and use them in stores.
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Still have Fix Your Bike vouchers to redeem? Let the DfT know

22 Nov 2021

The deadline for completing all repairs as part of the Fix Your Bike scheme has now passed but it's not too late to ask for an extension.

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Save the date Just a Card – Indie Week 2021 22-26 November

18 Nov 2021

An antidote to the fast-purchase culture of Black Friday, Just a Card – Indie Week is your chance to shine, your opportunity to celebrate and share your work, stories and communities,... Read more…

New service brings ACT members up to 20% off IT equipment and free access to tech advice

18 Nov 2021

Technologyhas important effects on business operations. The ACT has partnered withDell to assist businesses in attaining quality up-to-date IT equipment and access specialist advice to... Read more…

Scotland commits to transport decarbonisation

15 Nov 2021

The ScottishGovernment has signed an international pledge as part of the COP26 conference, committing to accelerate the transition to 100% zero emission vehicles.
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Scotland to ban single use plastics from June 2022

15 Nov 2021

The Scottish Government has laid legislation to introduce a ban on certain single use plastic items from 1st June 2022.
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Consultation launched to bring BNPL providers under regulation

11 Nov 2021

As trendy Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) services continue to grow in popularity across the UK, a charity has warned that using these non-regulated services can be like "slipping into quicksand".... Read more…

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How fraudsters are exploiting customers using popular BNPL service providers

Posted on in Business News, Brands & Products News, Cycles News

Improperly e-commerceregulated Buy Now Pay Later services aren't just growing in popularity among consumers, they're also proving to be a hit with criminals.

Retail finance, when used correctly, is an advantageous payment option for both retailers and consumers and it should continue to be so. It is specifically the BNPL providers performing soft credit checks where fraudulent activity is on the rise, which include Klarna, Afterpay and Affirm, according to fraud experts.

BNPL products are becoming increasingly popular among Gen Z's and Millennials, they are offered widely online by fashion retailers whereby they allow shoppers to split payments at checkouts or pay 30 days later interest-free. They've become massively popular in the U.S. and Europe, and generated almost $100 billion in transactions globally in 2020 alone.

Criminal gangs are exploiting weaknesses in the application process for BNPL loans, experts say, using clever tactics to slip through undetected and steal items such as bicycles, booze and video game consoles.

Martin Rehak, CEO and co-founder of Czech fraud detection start-up Resistant AI said that one of the vulnerabilities is BNPL firms' reliance on data for approving new clients. Many companies in the industry don't conduct formal credit checks, instead using internal algorithms to determine creditworthiness based on the information they have available to them.

Rehak said many scammers are stealing people's identities or taking over their accounts to evade detection, making unsuspecting victims foot the bill. He declined to name any specific companies being targeted, however, saying Resistant AI counts a number of BNPL businesses as clients.

Warnings of BNPL fraud are particularly timely as Black Friday kicks off the critical holiday shopping season next week. "There's going to be a huge amount of fraud hidden in there because they always lower their security checks during those events because they don't want it to impact sales," said Kevin Gosschalk, founder and CEO of fraud-prevention start-up Arkose Labs.

Consistent campaigning has now led to the UK Treasury launching a consultation into bringing the sector under regulation. The Treasury said that the consultation "sets out policy options to achieve a proportionate approach to regulation of BNPL".

Martin Lewis, founder of MoneySavingExpert.com, summarises the issue by saying retail finance "isn't automatically a bad thing to do" and that when done right it "can be a useful tool to help people spread costs."

The ACT and ActSmart, members of the Independent Retailers Confederation (IRC), has previously raised concerns about the improper regulation of BNPL providers such as Klarna, Openpay and LayBuy and the risks that they bring to potential customers.

Some debt charities argue that it is the retailer's responsibility to educate their customers of the risks being undertaken when committing to any BNPL payments. With a retailer's reputation at stake, as well as the wellbeing of their customers, it is imperative that businesses find a finance provider that they can trust and that is correctly regulated by the FCA.

The ACT have created a mini-series - Choosing the right finance provider, avoid the pitfalls - which assists retailers by highlighting what to look out for when choosing the right finance provider for you.

 

Train your staff to deliver finance effectively

Retail Finance Training, brought to you by Indie Retail Training, is a distance learning course ensuring your business sells using finance effectively and compliantly.

This course is designed for all owners and employees in a business that either currently, or plans to, offer retail finance as a payment method.

The course will teach you how to legally promote and use retail finance in-store, online and in all other forms of media. As well as covering the legal details this course also aims to make sure you maximise each sale using retail finance.

You can sign up and access a demo of the training site for FREE: https://demo.indieretail.training.

For the full course, ACT members receive preferential pricing with up to 50% off. Find out more about the full course.

 

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