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Insights and Expertise

ducing the bulletin-board model at the scale of the entire
web, with an AI agent that has no instinct for a suspicious
Reducing merchant impersonation risk storefront, and no human hesitation at checkout. A chan-
nel that surfaces merchants without validating them is
While payment networks, AI developers and acquirers not a neutral pipe; it is a magnet for the impersonation
work toward stronger merchant verification standards, fraud the Ask Silver investigation already shows is under-
your merchants can take practical steps now to reduce way. The lesson from two decades of marketplace history
the risk of being impersonated online. They can:
is that trust is built deliberately and expensively, and the
1. Maintain a clear and consistent digital identity. platforms that decline to build it significantly forfeit con-
Ensure customers can easily identify their official sumer confidence.
website, social media accounts and customer
service channels. Prominently display their Why this matters for acquirers
primary domain name across marketing materials, For merchant acquirers the merchant verification gap has
invoices and communications so customers know
where to expect legitimate interactions. a direct portfolio implication. Agent-driven commerce
removes the human decision point that has historically
2. Monitor their brand's online presence. Regularly provided a line of defense against merchant fraud. A con-
search for unauthorized websites, fake social sumer choosing a retailer through a search engine exercis-
media accounts and misleading advertisements es judgement about the domain name, reviews and brand
using their company name or trademarks. Early familiarity. An AI agent operating autonomously does not.
detection can help limit consumer harm before The fraudulent merchant that previously had to build a
fraudulent sites gain visibility in search engines or full fraudulent website now needs only to fool an AI with
AI-generated recommendations. a single page. Acquirers with significant exposure to seg-
3. Register and protect important domain names ments like fashion, footwear, FMCG or travel, which are
when practical, including common misspellings already moving into agentic shopping, carry elevated ex-
or similar web addresses that fraudsters might posure as agentic volumes scale.
exploit. Maintaining accurate business listings and
structured website information can also help search Acquirers do not need to wait for a network or platform
engines and AI systems identify authoritative standard to act. A number of steps are available now. First
sources. identify portfolio exposure: which merchants operate in
impersonation-prone categories, and which trade under
4. Educate customers. Encourage them to brands with no single authoritative website. Second en-
verify web addresses before entering payment sure the merchants are legitimate, particularly if there are
information and explain how to recognize payfac relationships involved. Acquirers are required to
their official communications. If their business check merchant websites at onboarding, but it may need
undergoes significant changes—such as a merger, to become a perpetual review process.
acquisition or website migration—communicate
those changes clearly to reduce confusion that Who else needs to fill the gap?
criminals could exploit. The acquirer steps above close part of the gap, but not all
5. Work closely with their payment processor or of it. The payment networks can complement the partici-
acquiring partner if they discover impersonation pants with risk signals of their own using the large data
attempts. Reporting fraudulent websites promptly sets they hold. The AI platforms can seek to verify mer-
can help payment providers, card networks and chant identity, not merely a catalog feed, before a mer-
technology platforms identify broader patterns chant is surfaced in a recommendation.
of abuse and protect additional merchants and
consumers.to merchants as protecting payment The most likely outcome is some combination of acquirers,
credentials or customer data. networks and agents coming together. This will need to
happen quickly if consumers are to build the kind of trust
As AI-assisted shopping continues to evolve, we have seen in major marketplaces that have addressed
maintaining a trusted online identity may become this bad-actor issue for many years.
as important to merchants as protecting payment
credentials or customer data. Chris Jones manages PSE Consulting's business and is well known in
the UK and EU for his regular insights into payments innovation. He has
spent the last 20+ years leading assignments for major clients during his
The contrast with unmanaged platforms is instructive. time at PSE and Accenture. His specializations include customer proposi-
Marketplaces that perform no seller validation, operating tion development, market entry strategies and enterprise value creation.
as bulletin boards rather than as merchants of record, are Contact him via email at info@pseconsulting.com or on LinkedIn at
routinely characterized as the Wild West and accused of linkedin.com/in/chrisjonespse. To learn more about PSE, a provider of
enabling seller fraud. If agentic commerce develops with- payment advisory services to professionals across the payments land-
out any enhanced agentic seller verification, it risks repro- scape, visit https://pseconsulting.com.
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