In the past, credit card fraud was commonly determined by checking whether a shopper’s credit card matched their ID. With the advent of online retail, however, catching fraudsters became a more complex task and many merchants resorted to automatically declining orders containing data mismatches.

Initially this approach seemed practical, as the majority of eCommerce stores catered to a domestic market, which meant fewer legitimate reasons for discrepancies between a credit card BIN country and shipping destination (for example). Today, with a rapidly expanding global customer base, there are many situations where mismatches are explainable – or even to be expected – in good orders.

Inconsistencies between data points can of course still indicate fraud, so retailers need to evaluate orders using a wide range of criteria rather than relying on strict rules or discrete data elements. To provide insight into the most common types of mismatches found in good orders, and assist eCommerce sellers to streamline their fraud review process, we’ve created an eBook dedicated to mismatches.

A sneak peek

So, what are some of the most commonly encountered mismatches? And what do retailers need to know when considering them? Here’s a small taste of what’s offered in our eBook.

Mismatch between the credit card holder’s name & email address

This type of mismatch is most commonly found in digital orders. Fraudsters enter the credit card holder’s actual information, and just use their own email address. However, not all good customers have an email address containing their name. In online event tickets, Riskified approves 81% of orders where the name and email do not match. In some cases – especially for digital orders – the customer is legitimately sending the order to a different email address.  

TIP:  Check whether there is anything in the email that resembles the name (e.g. initials); whether there’s a link between the domain and the billing details (e.g. a corporate address); and when the email was created.

Mismatch between the credit card BIN country & shipping country

A mismatch between the credit card country and shipping destination could indicate a fraudster at work. But this combination is also commonly found in legitimate orders. It could simply be someone sending a gift to a friend who is abroad, a traveler sending items to their hotel while on vacation, or someone using a reshipping service.   

TIP: Check the connection between the email domain, shipping address, and billing name. It is often the case that the email domain is the name of the company included in the shipping address.

Get your copy!

Access your free copy of ‘Making sense of mismatches: an eBook for online retailers’ to get actionable advice on managing mismatches, plus a deeper look at industry-specific patterns to help minimize false declines and boost approval rates. 

Mistmatch Order Data