BSG Helps Merchants Combat Prepaid Card Fraud with Unique Risk Management Solution

SAN ANTONIO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--BSG Clearing Solutions (BSG), the leading provider of payment and risk management solutions for communications service providers and e-commerce merchants, announced today the deployment of a value-added Credit Card Processing enhancement to guard against prepaid / gift card fraud currently not addressed by other payment providers.

“Prepaid cards are especially vulnerable to fraud because of their anonymous nature and more significant risk controls are needed.”

Intended for card-not-present (CNP) merchants, BSG’s new Card Identification System combines the identification of the specific card type and card class with usage data and sophisticated heuristics to accurately identify prepaid / gift cards and track purchase attempts. Merchants are especially prone to abuse from these cards because they are disposable, anonymous and typically do not support verification techniques like address verification. BSG’s Card Identification System goes far beyond the commonly used, simplistic routines that are based merely on country-of-origin information obtained from the Bank Identification Number, thereby reducing risk exposure and fraud, while optimizing revenue for merchants. These technological advancements further solidify BSG’s Advanced Payment Gateway (APG™) as the most comprehensive payment solution in the industry.

“There is an increasing trend in the use of prepaid cards among fraudsters to access telecommunications and content services, establish online accounts and create a business facade as a launching point for more advanced fraud schemes. We are monitoring growing complaints among our clients as these cards are also commonly used for subscriptions with VOIP providers, DVD rental merchants, music clubs and prepaid cellular merchants - all of which quickly lead to unbillable transactions, product losses and increased bad debt,” said David Guerin, Vice President of Operations for BSG.

“Card-not-present fraud is increasing in every region around the globe," said Brian Riley, Senior Analyst with TowerGroup. “Prepaid cards are especially vulnerable to fraud because of their anonymous nature and more significant risk controls are needed.”

Additionally, BSG’s Card Identification System gives CNP merchants other advantages by providing them with added insight about their customer’s purchasing behavior. This allows them to make more informed business decisions and to better optimize their marketing campaigns. These features also further differentiate BSG’s fully integrated APG™ product solutions from its competitors.

BSG Clearing Solutions (www.bsgclearing.com)

Established in 1988 and headquartered in San Antonio, Texas, BSG Clearing Solutions is a leading and trusted provider of advanced payment services for digital media, communications providers and eCommerce merchants. BSG’s comprehensive, multi-channel payment solutions optimize merchant revenue by encompassing full service credit card merchant acquisition, integrated financial risk management, and unique, alternative payment options such as Bill2Phone™ that reaches more than 350MM consumer wireline and wireless phone bills. BSG Clearing Solutions is an operating subsidiary of Billing Services Group Limited, which is publicly traded on the London Stock Exchange (AIM) under the ticker symbol BILL.