Equifax Introduces New Kount Essentials Application for Small Businesses on the Shopify App Store
Payment fraud is an ever-present concern for online businesses. In 2022, global e-commerce payment fraud amounted to $41 billion in losses, and industry analysts predict that figure will reach $48 billion by the end of 2023.
The impact of fraud is especially visible when analyzed on a business-by-business basis. According to research by ACFE, 54% of all victim organizations don’t recover any of the losses caused by fraud. This is especially devastating for small businesses, which when hit by fraudulent activity cannot rebound as quickly as large corporations.
“Equifax has offered a Kount Advanced app for Shopify — designed for larger businesses with dedicated fraud management teams – since 2019. We recognize the unique challenges faced by small businesses and with the introduction of Kount Essentials, we’re making our award-winning fraud prevention capabilities available to growing organizations,” said Adam Gunther, Senior Vice President and Chief Product Officer, at Equifax Digital Solutions. “Merchants on Shopify now can choose between Kount Essentials or Kount Advanced, depending on which features best suit their business. In offering two tiers of protection, Equifax is able to provide cutting-edge technology to all merchants that is as adaptive as modern fraud threats.”
Brad Wiskirchen, General Manager of Kount, an Equifax company, answers a few questions about the launch and what it means for businesses of all sizes.
Why is there a focus on small businesses?
BW: Shopify supports millions of online stores globally. Despite the fact that many large merchants operate on the platform, the majority of businesses are small with approximately 98% making less than $1 million USD in annual revenue.
Large businesses typically have fraud teams with the knowledge and expertise to manage complex fraud management strategies. However, smaller merchants need a tool that is easy to use, accurate, and capable of securing good revenue. Specifically, we know small businesses are looking for the following:
Easy integration
Short time to value
No complex model or policy set up
Extremely low false decline rate
Significant reduction in chargebacks
With our latest enhancements to the Kount app, we can provide industry-leading trust and safety solutions to businesses of any size.
Will larger merchants still be able to use the app?
BW: Kount is enhancing its Shopify app to support both large and small merchants.
Larger merchants can continue to access Kount capabilities through the Command platform. They can leverage the legacy integration process already established for Shopify. This service level is referred to as Kount Advance.
Smaller merchants will integrate with Kount 360 directly from the Shopify app store and onboarding is completely self-serviced. This service level — referred to as Kount Essentials — reduces complexity and the time it takes for merchants to be up and running with a fraud service.
Even though our Essentials offering is specifically designed to solve the challenges that most commonly impact small businesses, the option is available to any Shopify business of any size.
Can you provide a high-level comparison of the two service levels?
BW: Again, businesses can select whatever service level they want, regardless of business size or sales volume. However, this is how we envision the Kount app will be used. For a comparison to help your business understand which solution is best for you, click here.
To learn more about the Kount application for Shopify, visit kount.com.