Direct bank payment fintech GoCardless has rolled out its Open Banking-powered feature ‘verified mandates’, which is designed to tackle payment fraud, to France.
It follows the launch of the service in the US, UK and then Germany earlier this year.
Verified mandates combines the AIS capabilities of Open Banking with bank debit to prevent instances of fraud.
GoCardless said that one of the main types of fraud the feature prevents, alongside identity fraud, is where “customers” try to receive goods or services from merchants without paying for them.
According to GoCardless, the problem is particularly acute for recurring revenue businesses.
Its research found that 55% of French merchants with this business model consider payment fraud one of the primary threats their business faces.
However, 53% of businesses say they still provide goods or services before confirming if a customer’s bank information is authentic, the same GoCardless research showed.
Alexandra Chiaramonti, general manager of Continental Europe, said: “Payment fraud is a prevalent issue for merchants, but new technology means you can limit your exposure without reducing conversion or adding a ton of third parties to your supplier roster.
“Verified Mandates, which uses the power of Open Banking, allows you to authenticate your payers as part of the payment set-up flow. This means you can protect your revenue without adding extra friction for your customers.”
