To help its members better prepare and deal with digital fraud complexities and payment risk, Checkout.com, the payments provider, has extended its partnership with the Merchant Risk Council (MRC), the non-profit association made up of over 750 companies dedicated to safeguarding the integrity of e-commerce.
Fraud’s impact on today’s digital economy continues to grow. In fact, according to research from Checkout.com, 40 per cent of the global population have reported being victims to payment fraud in the past 12 months. Consumers aren’t the only ones being affected as research from the MRC also revealed that 57 per cent of firms have experienced an increase in fraud, with 22 per cent citing increases of 50 per cent or more.
To combat this growing problem, Checkout.com and MRC have extended their partnership. The new multi-year collaboration will see an increase in investment in foundational education programmes for global payments and fraud prevention communities.
This includes continued support for Payments Essentials and Fraud Essentials, two eLearning courses designed to equip professionals with the skills needed to build secure, scalable payment infrastructures and combat fraud across channels.
“We’re proud to extend our partnership with the Merchant Risk Council” said Rory O’Neill, chief marketing officer, Checkout.com. “Fraud is a major challenge for all merchants, and will become a more urgent issue as the industry ushers in a new era of agentic commerce.
“However, we truly believe that payments is a major opportunity for merchants – and that thriving starts with education. From young students and early-stage professionals, to tomorrow’s chief payment officers, Checkout.com is committed to building and sharing payments expertise that safeguards the industry, and enables businesses to thrive in the digital economy.”
Share the best ways to prevent fraud
This month, the MRC appointed Checkout.com representatives to its regional advisory boards. These appointments reflect the MRC’s broader mission to unite merchants, solutions providers, issuers, acquirers, and law enforcement agencies to share fraud prevention and payment best practices, trends, and emerging threats.
Checkout.com members now engaged in the advisory board are:
- Jim Cho, VP revenue, US
- Maxime Colas, director sales, Europe
- Monique Biady, head of commercial, Australia
- Juarez Borges Filho, country general manager, Brazil
“As e-commerce grows, so does online fraud – and one of our industry’s strongest defense lines is education,” commented Julie Fergerson, CEO and co-founder of the Merchant Risk Council. “Because when payments professionals are armed with the latest insights – through hands-on training, peer-to-peer learning and rigorous certification programs – they can identify emerging threats sooner and adapt controls more effectively.
“Investing in continuous education isn’t just a competitive advantage; it’s the very foundation of resilient commerce in an era of increasingly sophisticated fraud.”
