Phnom Penh, 10 November 2023 – Visa, a world leader in digital payments, spotlighted the evolution of its dispute program, making it easier for merchants to fight first-party misuse when an individual purposefully provides false details or misrepresents their identity for illicit gain via purchase return activity, also known as friendly fraud or first-party fraud, for card-not-present transactions. This change could save small businesses over a billion dollars in losses globally over the next five years, in turn benefitting the entire ecosystem of consumers and merchants.

“At Visa, we are committed to enabling trusted commerce and protecting consumers and merchants. The increase in first-party fraud has necessitated moderated changes to limited aspects of our dispute process to empower small businesses with the tools they need to secure legitimately earned payments,” said Ms. Ivana Tranchini, Visa Country Manager for Cambodia. “This commitment to combatting fraud also includes bolstering client knowledge through a series of trainings on risk threats. We re-launched Cambodia’s Industry Risk Forum, a Visa-driven initiative bringing together payment fraud and operations specialists across the Visa ecosystem to share best practices and intelligence in the fight against fraud. Visa remains dedicated to shielding consumers from fraud, highlighted by our zero-liability commitment to cardholders for unauthorized transactions.”

The rule change gives merchants more ways to show a disputed charge is valid and authorized, helping business owners keep money that is rightfully theirs, while protecting legitimate cardholder activity.

“A robust and fair dispute system is vital as it builds trust and increases efficiency for Cambodia’s burgeoning digital payments and e-commerce sectors,” Ms. Tranchini said. “Small businesses can be devastated by first-party fraud. If SMEs lose a dispute for a legitimate charge, that can be the difference between making payroll or not. Our enhanced dispute process helps ensure Cambodian businesses get a fair shot on contested charges.”

“Small businesses are significantly more at risk for incurring fraud-related losses given they lack the resources of larger firm," said Mr. Torsten Kleine Büning, Chair of Risk Committee at the Association of Banks in Cambodia (ABC) and Chief Risk Officer & Compliance Adviser to CEO of ABA Bank Plc. ABC recently warned the Cambodian public of an increase of fraud through fake mobile shopping websites. “Combatting first-party fraud requires effective partnerships among all stakeholders. We remain vigilant to fraud of all kinds in the banking and payments sector and appreciate Visa’s commitment to reducing this threat to merchants.”

About Visa

Visa (NYSE: V) is a world leader in digital payments, facilitating transactions between consumers, merchants, financial institutions and government entities across more than 200 countries and territories. Our mission is to connect the world through the most innovative, convenient, reliable and secure payments network, enabling individuals, businesses and economies to thrive. We believe that economies that include everyone everywhere, uplift everyone everywhere and see access as foundational to the future of money movement. Learn more at Visa.com.