GoCardless, a leader in direct bank payment solutions, has launched Verified Mandates in France. Part of the GoCardless global ‘bank payment’ platform, Verified Mandates combines the Account Information Services (AIS) capabilities of open banking with bank debit to stop fraud before it happens.

This represents a new approach to tackling the age-old issue of payment fraud, whether it stems from identity fraud or “customers” that intentionally try to receive goods or services from merchants without paying for them.

The problem is particularly acute for recurring revenue businesses, with research indicating that  55% of French merchants on this model consider payment fraud a top threat -- or even the primary threat -- facing their business today. Despite this, over half of businesses (53%) say they still provide goods or services before confirming if a customer’s bank information is authentic and true.

A few clicks, a better way

Until now, businesses that are especially exposed -- including those that invoice, offer free trials or ask for payment after usage -- didn’t have much recourse. But the introduction of Verified Mandates represents a new era of intelligent fraud prevention that doesn’t compromise on customer experience.

Verified Mandates works in a simple, three-step process which can be completed in less than a minute.

1. A customer who enters a merchant’s checkout flow will be asked to complete a standard bank debit mandate creation form.
2. They’ll be prompted to choose their bank, log into their online banking platform using their usual method, and authorise the setup of their direct debit mandate.
3. The merchant will receive instant confirmation of the successful verification and the customer can complete the checkout flow as usual.

Besides the seamless checkout experience, payers also gain peace of mind: bank-grade security, often with biometric authentication required, is much harder for fraudsters to overcome compared to, for example, using stolen card details.

Alexandra Chiaramonti, General Manager of Continental Europe, said: “Payment fraud is a prevalent issue for merchants, but new technology means you can limit your exposure without reducing conversion or adding a ton of third parties to your supplier roster. Verified Mandates, which uses the power of open banking, allows you to authentic your payers as part of the payment set-up flow. This means you can protect your revenue without adding extra friction for your customers.”

The French launch follows the introduction of Verified Mandates in the US, UK and Germany. Any merchant that collects payments from one of these four markets can now benefit from instant payer and bank account verification.

It also marks another milestone in GoCardless’ open banking strategy. The fintech launched its first open banking-powered feature, Instant Bank Pay, in 2021. In February this year it raised its Series G funding round to accelerate its growth in the space. Most recently, GoCardless announced the acquisition of Nordigen, the freemium open banking data provider, to combine broad open banking connectivity with bank payment expertise.