4 Fraud Prevention Technologies Every Retailer Should Deploy

Retail fraud is no longer just a card-skimming issue. From in-store refund scams to online account takeovers, UK retailers are seeing sharper, more frequent attacks, and unfortunately, many businesses are still playing catch-up.

According to UK Finance, over £1.2 billion was stolen through fraud in 2023 alone, with retail being one of the hardest-hit sectors. Fraud has evolved from crude tricks to sophisticated, multi-step schemes involving identity theft, fake returns, chargebacks, and more.

The good news? Retail fraud prevention has evolved, too. Whether you’re running a high-street fashion store with EPOS tills or an e-commerce site processing thousands of daily transactions, there are now smarter, faster, and more embedded ways to keep fraud at bay without slowing down your customers.

In this guide, we’ll explore four proven fraud prevention technologies every UK retailer should be looking at in 2025, including how Open Banking payments, AI-powered risk scoring, and payment orchestration can work together to create a seamless, secure checkout experience across both online and in-store environments.

1. Accepting Payments via Open Banking

Best for: reducing chargebacks, preventing payment fraud, and lowering transaction fees in both in-store and online retail environments.

Open Banking allows customers to pay directly from their bank accounts. This type of payment, also known as account-to-account (A2A), uses secure bank authentication instead of cards or wallets.

Because every payment is approved through the customer’s own banking app, there is no need to handle card data. This makes it much harder for fraud to occur, especially during high-value purchases.

In-Store Use Case (EPOS)

Retailers can display a QR code at the till. The customer scans the code using their phone, confirms the payment in their banking app, and the transaction is completed instantly.

This avoids the need for card machines, reduces the risk of card-present fraud, and gives you a secure, traceable payment that cannot be reversed through a chargeback.

Online Checkout Use Case

At checkout, customers can choose “Pay by Bank” as their payment option. They are securely redirected to their bank, approve the payment, and return to your site once it is complete.

Because the payment is fully authenticated, you can be confident the account is valid and belongs to the person making the purchase. This prevents stolen card use, identity misuse, and refund scams.

Why It Works for Fraud Prevention

• Customers must authenticate the payment using their bank app, so fraud is blocked at the source
• There is no stored card data, so data breaches are less of a concern
• Refunds go back to the same account, helping reduce refund abuse
• Instant confirmation reduces the chance of false declines or delays

How Finexer Supports This

Finexer helps retailers of all sizes accept Open Banking payments through a single API. You can enable “Pay by Bank” at online checkout, or generate QR codes for use at physical tills.

Finexer also provides real-time account verification, meaning you always know the payment is coming from a valid bank account. Transactions settle quickly, refund handling is simple, and your exposure to chargebacks is reduced.

There is no complex onboarding. Most retailers can go live within a few weeks, with full support during setup and testing.

If you are looking to reduce fraud while improving the payment experience for your customers, Open Banking through Finexer is a modern, secure option that is already being used by retailers across the UK.

We were looking for a partner that could not only meet our current needs but also anticipate and support our growth. Finexer delivered exactly what we needed, from compliance-ready software to seamless integration with our existing systems.” – David Kern, CEO of VirtualSignature-ID.

2. AI-Powered Risk Engines and Real-Time Fraud Scoring

Best for: identifying suspicious transactions quickly during online checkout, with growing use in high-speed in-store payment systems.

Retailers today can no longer rely on static rules or post-transaction reviews to stop fraud. AI-powered fraud detection tools have changed the game by using real-time data to flag high-risk transactions as they happen, in many cases, within just milliseconds.

These systems work by scoring each transaction using hundreds of risk indicators: device fingerprint, login patterns, transaction history, location mismatches, velocity checks, and more. Based on these patterns, the system can approve or flag the transaction before the payment is fully processed.

Where It Works Best

• Online checkout environments
  Real-time fraud scoring is now standard among large e-commerce retailers. It helps prevent card fraud, identity misuse, and account takeovers.
• In-store (EPOS) systems
  While less common, some enterprise retailers are deploying AI-based fraud scoring at the backend of their POS infrastructure. These systems can still return a risk score in under 100 milliseconds, which is fast enough not to interrupt checkout flow.

Technologies Proven to Work in Real-Time

Here are three examples of platforms that currently support real-time or near-instant fraud decisions:

1. Feedzai
   Used by major banks and retailers, Feedzai’s risk engine processes over 100,000 transactions per second with sub-100 ms decisioning windows. It integrates into payment gateways, POS, and mobile channels.
2. Mastercard Decision Intelligence Pro
   This tool scans global transaction data and applies AI models to approve or decline payments in real time. Mastercard claims it improves fraud detection without delaying the user experience, even at the card terminal.
3. Forter
   Specialised in online commerce, Forter scores each transaction as it happens using identity graphs and behavioural data. It is widely used by e-commerce platforms like ASOS and Farfetch to prevent fraud at checkout without customer friction.

These platforms are trusted by global retailers, banks, and marketplaces to spot fraud while keeping genuine payments fast and smooth.

Why This Matters for Card Fraud Prevention

Most retail fraud still starts with stolen card data. AI-based scoring can catch the mismatch between the fraudster and the real customer, even if the card number is valid. For example:

• The device is different
• The location is unexpected
• The shopping behaviour is abnormal

All of this can be detected in real time, stopping the fraud before it’s approved.

3. Behavioural Biometrics and Session Monitoring

Best for: detecting account takeover fraud, bots, and suspicious user behaviour during online shopping sessions.

Not all fraud comes from stolen cards. Increasingly, attackers gain access to customer accounts and make purchases using saved payment methods. This is especially common in loyalty apps, saved-checkout platforms, and mobile-first e-commerce.

To stop this, many retailers are turning to behavioural biometrics and session monitoring.

What It Does

These tools silently track how a customer behaves during their session:

• Typing speed and rhythm
• Mouse movement or touchscreen patterns
• Navigation flow (pages viewed, time spent)
• Device and browser fingerprint

If something feels off, for example, a sudden change in typing speed, or a login from a new location with perfect credentials, the system flags the session for review or blocks the transaction altogether.

Why It Works for Retail Fraud Prevention

This technology doesn’t just rely on what the customer enters. It learns how they interact with your website or app.

That makes it much harder for fraudsters to succeed, even if they have the correct login or card details.

• It catches bots pretending to be human
• It detects when a genuine customer’s account is being used by someone else
• It does all this without interrupting the user experience

Where It’s Used

• Online fashion and electronics retailers
• Subscription services and marketplaces
• Travel and ticketing platforms

These are all environments where account access is just as valuable to a fraudster as the payment method itself.

Examples of Behavioural Biometrics Tools

• BioCatch
  Used by global banks and fintechs. Tracks more than 2,000 behavioural cues to detect fraud in real time.
• ThreatMetrix (LexisNexis Risk Solutions)
  Combines behavioural data with device, IP, and identity intelligence to stop fraud at login or checkout.
• SEON
  Offers a fast-deploy solution for session fingerprinting, popular with online marketplaces and crypto platforms.

4. Payment Orchestration Platforms with Built-In Fraud Controls

Best for: managing multiple payment methods across channels while applying fraud prevention rules automatically in the background.

Retailers today often work with several payment providers like cards, wallets, Buy Now Pay Later, and now Open Banking. Managing each one separately can get complex, especially when trying to apply consistent fraud checks across all of them.

That’s where payment orchestration platforms come in.

What It Does

A payment orchestration platform connects all your payment methods, providers, and fraud tools into one system. It helps you route transactions, apply rules, and optimise approvals without needing custom integrations for each new service.

Most modern orchestration platforms also include built-in fraud detection, or make it easy to connect your preferred fraud tools.

Benefits for Fraud Prevention

• You can apply consistent fraud rules across card, bank, and wallet payments
• Suspicious payments can be routed to additional verification before approval
• High-risk transactions can be blocked before reaching your PSP (payment service provider)
• Low-risk, high-value transactions can be fast-tracked for approval

Where It Works

• Enterprise e-commerce brands with global operations
• Omnichannel retailers who want to unify EPOS and online checkout systems
• Businesses expanding into new payment methods, including Open Banking

Examples of Payment Orchestration Providers

• Primer – popular for Open Banking and modular fraud tool integrations
• Checkout.com – includes smart fraud detection and multi-provider routing
• Apexx – focuses on optimising payments across card and bank networks for retail

How Open Banking Fits In

Finexer’s Open Banking payments can be plugged into your orchestration platform just like any other method. This lets you:

• Offer Pay by Bank as a secure, fraud-resistant option
• Use real-time account verification alongside other fraud rules
• Reduce reliance on cards, and with it, card-related fraud and chargebacks

This flexibility gives you full control of the checkout experience while applying smart fraud prevention at every step.