Entersekt’s one-call, real-time API slashes e-commerce card fraud with one simple integration

Closing the gap on e-commerce payment card fraud.

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Entersekt has announced a one-call, real-time API that will enable banks to automate cardholder updates and close the gap on e-commerce payment card fraud.

With RealSync, the real-time API, card-issuing banks can now immediately act if a customer reports a credit card lost or stolen, to prevent them falling victim to online fraud. Additionally, the single API integration enables banks to connect the API without the time and costs required for multiple API integrations.

“Many banks still rely on outdated batch upload processes for card holder information and card status, which means consumers who need to cancel or block a stolen credit card will sometimes have to wait hours for their request to be actioned. In that window of vulnerability, fraudulent transactions can proceed as they watch helplessly. With real-time synchronisation between their EMV 3D Secure Access Control Server and cardholder information, banks can immediately block or cancel a card so consumers can confidently transact online,” explains Ellezane Williams, Global Head of Solution Architecture at Entersekt.

In 2022, Entersekt deployed a real-time API that allowed their global banking clients to instantly communicate with their ACS. However, the system still relied on multiple messages between APIs to communicate and authenticate any changes on a card, such as card blocking or cancellation.

New innovation from Entersekt sees a solution that consolidates messages through a one-call API for a lightweight, real-time experience. This allows a bank's consumers to initiate a card validation via the card management systems in real-time, instead of having to wait for the bank to initiate the changes in the next batch upload.

“Real-time API technology allows us to route, authenticate, secure, shape and cache APIs in less than 30 milliseconds. For consumers looking to block a stolen card, real-time communication is a vital part of their digital experience. From a bank’s perspective, being able to successfully conclude card changes in real-time and with just one message is game-changing,” Williams explains.

Historically, ACS vendors weren't able to offer anything quicker than batch upload card status because of the latency in the cardholder look-ups between the card brand directory servers and the ACS. Batch uploads scheduled at fixed intervals resulted in a gap of hours or more before a cardholder’s change was actioned on the ACS. This meant a cardholder who cancelled or blocked a stolen card could see fraudulent transactions proceed after they reported the card, leaving the bank to absorb the loss.

But Entersekt’s one-call API offers a real-time view of fraud management across all systems, channels and locations. Using the API also helps banks significantly cut down on the ACS server load associated with legacy batch file sharing, improving its overall performance. What’s more, with the Entersekt solution, the ACS does all the heavy lifting when it comes to authenticating by issuing a challenge to the customer, when warranted by risk-based signals, via the best channel and communicating this back to the bank.

In recent years, some banks have built multiple APIs to achieve real-time synchronisation. The development effort to create multiple APIs was a significant hurdle for issuers and processors in replacing the antiquated batch process. The simpler, faster and more efficient process will save banks’ development teams hundreds of integration hours, and Williams says instead of a long, painful integration process, Entersekt’s single, real-time API can reduce development time from between 18 and 24 months to between three and six months, depending on the complexity of the requirements.

“Banks are always looking for more efficient ways to deliver a better service. We have already had a strong interest from both local and international clients. When they hear that with one, simple integration we can empower consumers to take control of their security, they see the immediate benefit. What’s more, our solution takes care of the risk orchestration, streamlining processes and significantly lowering team requirements. Entersekt is delivering a one-and-done solution that will immediately benefit banks and their customers,” he says.