Fraudulent activities are mirroring developments in the coronavirus pandemic, according to LexisNexis Risk Solutions. Researchers identified weekly fluctuations in physical identity fraud following the lockdown begun in mid-March. Additionally, reported cases of stolen identity fraud have exceeded 2019 levels. "Service providers need to take a risk-based multilayered approach [to navigate the current threat landscape]," said Christopher Schnieper, the firm's director of fraud & identity.
While the coronavirus pandemic has placed many businesses on hold, not so for Shift4 Payments, which raised $345 million on its first day of trading on the New York Stock Exchange, June 5. At the start of trading a mask-wearing Jared Isaacman, Shift4's CEO, became the first to ring the opening bell in person on the NYSE floor since it re-opened for trading in May. Unlike past IPO-related bell-ringing ceremonies, the trading floor wasn't packed with spectators due to social distancing requirements. Concurrent with the IPO, Isaacman put $100 million of his own money into Shift4 through a private stock placement.
Skrill rolled out enhancements designed to make transactions easy, simple and fast. The company launched the Skrill Visa Prepaid Card in January 2020, followed by Skrill Money Transfer and an expanded version of the Knect loyalty app in June that enables U.S. consumers to participate in the loyalty program. All are part of the company's plan to help consumers embrace alternative payment behaviors, stated Skrill CEO Lorenzo Pellegrino. In addition to pricing and usage fees, consumers want to know which merchants will accept their digital wallet and if the wallet serves specific verticals, he added.
Necessity brought unexpected benefits to the Southeast Acquirers Association this year. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, event organizers reinvented the organization's annual conference and expo, originally scheduled for May 2020 in Miami. The event, which took place virtually on June 15 and 16, not only drew record numbers of attendees, but it is also still live. Many of the presentations and demos remain available to those who attended the virtual gathering, as well as to those who register after the fact.
Square is making headlines for its revised merchant account reserve policy, which it described as a safeguard against escalating chargebacks and refunds during the coronavirus pandemic. Merchants who challenge the issue on Twitter are being blocked by the social media platform, according to New York Times journalist Nathaniel Popper, who reported that thousands of SMBs are seeing Square hold back 30 percent of credit card revenues for 120 days as a hedge against refunds and chargebacks. 
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