Blog / Fraud analytics

Interview with GAMIVO's Head of Sales and Payments Aleksander Pinkowski

Aleksander spoke to us about fraud trends, the impact of strong customer authentication and their advice to expanding merchants.

Interview with GAMIVO's Head of Sales and Payments Aleksander Pinkowski

Aleksander Pinkowski is an experienced manager in the e-commerce and gaming industry. Co-founder in several projects, including skin and crypto trading platforms and payment wallet systems. Aleksander is currently Head of Sales and Payments in GAMIVO.com LTD, a global marketplace for digital goods.

Can you tell us a little bit about GAMIVO?

GAMIVO.com platform is a digital goods marketplace, mainly dedicated to gamers. At GAMIVO.com, customers can find over 20,000 different products, from over 600 registered resellers from all over the world. GAMIVO supports over 50 local payment methods, including the most popular such as PayPal, VISA, MasterCard, Paysafecard, or Instant Banking Systems.

After just two years, GAMIVO is fast becoming one of the leaders in the market, in part thanks to partnerships such as the one with Ravelin, among others.

What kind of fraud trends are you seeing right now? 

High-demand products tend to also attract unwanted attention - in particular the latest releases. It's always a good idea to to keep an eye on Gift Cards, which can be easily redeemed on the respective platforms and used to purchase otherwise unavailable goods. Identity theft is the most common form of fraud.

Fraudsters adapt to changes rather quickly, which is why it's important to monitor any shifts in the potentially suspicious transactions.

What are the most important factors to consider when choosing a fraud solution?

Effectiveness compared to price always matters. However, it's important to find a good balance while considering anti-fraud solutions. Too forgiving setups may lead to increased fraud rates, on the other hand being too strict may negatively impact customer experience and authorization rates.

How do you think Strong Customer Authentication will affect merchants and payment providers in Europe?

It could decrease the authorization rates of the transactions, especially in regions where 3DS is not so popular and the end customers are not familiar with using it. However, for our market it may not have a huge impact. This is because we are enabling 3DS for a lot of transactions, due to the high fraud rate in the industry and specific product we offer - an activation code, which can be used immediately after purchase and cannot be refunded later on.

If PSD2 means that awareness and familiarity with 3DS spreads to more consumers, we can expect to increase our authorization rates along with this trend.

Do you have any advice to share with merchants looking to expand their business and grow a loyal customer base?

Offer the most simple system you can which is secure from day one. Always listen to your clients - if they see the changes they need, you can only benefit from that. As for the payments and fraud, it is very important to offer a local transaction system. Do not set up hidden fees, it will not build your loyal audience.

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