How to protect PayPal transactions from fraudsters

PayPal is among the most popular payment methods in the world. Yet, when interviewing merchants selling digital goods, many voice concerns regarding fraud. Luckily, there is a way to implement PayPal with complete fraud protection and a 100% payment guarantee.

PayPal, loved and preferred by users around the world

With 377 million total active user accounts and counting, PayPal is one of the most preferred payment methods by customers around the world. In Q4 2020 alone, PayPal handled 4.4 billion transactions while its buy now pays later product raked in $750 million in volume. Categories like gaming, cosmetics, fashion, home goods and auto parts were among the fastest-growing when it came to cross border transactions.

In Europe, PayPal is among the few payment methods that enjoy cross-border usage. The payment app is especially popular in Germany and the United Kingdom where it was used by more than 300,000 daily active users in 2019. PayPal is also quite popular in France and is steadily gaining in popularity in other European countries as well.

Why it is good to have PayPal as a payment option available

For consumers, PayPal is a quick and easy way of paying for goods and services over the internet. Similarly, for budding freelancers and large scale merchants, it is a reliable way of getting paid, that increases conversions and keeps customers happy.

The numbers don’t lie. A comScore study concluded that when customers selected PayPal as their payment method, their conversion rate was 88.7%.  PayPal conversion rates were 82% higher than all other payment methods.

Part of the appeal is that the aforementioned payment method safely stores the user’s payment information and thus only requires a login at checkout. This greatly improves the convenience with which customers can shop online, as they no longer need to memorize credit card numbers or take out their wallets whenever they enter the online checkout process.

PayPal is also a fast innovator in the world of payments. Recently, the company has made it possible for users in the United States to buy and sell cryptocurrencies and use these balances as funding sources. A feature it is planning to roll out globally in the months to come.

With its increasingly popular payment options like buy now pay later, QR codes and a strong focus on omnichannel experiences, PayPal offers users and merchants various ways to complete a transaction, thus increasing the likelihood of conversion at checkout.

 PayPal fraud protection is a legitimate concern

Ask any crowd of online merchants about their experiences with PayPal, and many will voice the same concern: fraud.

PayPal has come a long way in the way it handles fraud. In recent years, the company has made a concerted effort to fight fraud using artificial intelligence and machine learning. It has also improved and expanded protection for buyers and merchants on its platform.

However, PayPal is still susceptible to certain types of fraud and this is something many sellers are wary of. For many, it is also the reason why they try to avoid implementing PayPal as a payment method, despite its popularity among buyers.

In particular, PayPal has always been susceptible to fraud while seller protection has been rather limited at best. The many types of PayPal-related fraud include overpayment fraud and delivery address manipulation but also fake PayPal emails to sellers and phishing emails to customers, that when successful, lead to hacked PayPal accounts.

How Alphacomm protects merchants using PayPal

Even though the fraud concerns are serious and legitimate, it is also totally feasible to implement PayPal securely, with all the necessary protections in place. At Alphacomm, we have developed an anti-fraud tool that can identify and flag fraudulent transactions for PayPal and other high-risk payment methods.

Through machine learning algorithms, our solution makes it possible to detect fraudulent patterns for transactions of digital goods. We’re able to stop fraudsters dead in their tracks and protect your business from harm. We’re so confident in our solution, that we provide a 100% payment guarantee and reimburse any fraudulent transactions in the unlikely event that fraud does occur.

All things considered and given its popularity among customers, it is highly recommended that merchants offer PayPal as one of their available payment methods. We believe online merchants should be able to implement PayPal without having to worry about any potential fraud risks.

By protecting your PayPal transactions with our fraud protection solution, you can do just that, as a result, spend more time focusing on other important things, like growing your business.

What about PayPal? Let’s talk about it

Are you having doubts about PayPal as a safe and secure payment method? At Alphacomm, we have helped countless merchants across Europe reap the benefits of PayPal while avoiding any of the downsides. Feel free to reach out with any questions you might have regarding this popular payment and high-converting payment method.