Payments and Fraud Prevention for Online Merchants
This self-paced course provides a practical, merchant-centered view of the payments ecosystem, focusing on how online businesses accept, manage, and optimize payments while mitigating fraud risk. It connects core payment concepts to real-world merchant decisions—covering how transactions flow, how stakeholders interact, and how economics, performance metrics, and vendor choices impact outcomes.
Participants will gain a clear understanding of how to design effective payment strategies, manage cross-border complexity, evaluate payment methods, and implement fraud prevention approaches that balance risk, cost, and customer experience. The course emphasizes actionable insights to help merchants improve authorization performance, reduce losses, and make informed operational and strategic decisions.
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Professionals seeking to obtain the Merchant Risk Council’s Certified Payments and Fraud Prevention Professional (CPFPP) certification can use this as a preparatory course to complement self-directed study and review of provided exam study guides.
The course provides in-depth preparation that covers six areas you need to understand to prepare for the CPFPP exam: payments industry introduction, card payments, A2A payments, payments risk management, back office operations, and payments optimization.
MRC members receive discounted course pricing of $1200 (CPFPP exam fee not included). More information on eligibility requirements for the exam can be found here.
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Agenda
Payments Industry Introduction
Payments Systems Introduction - 1:00 Hour
- Understanding Volumes - Count vs. Amount, Country Variation
- Payments System Triad - Rules, Processing, and Brand
- Payments System Stack - How the pieces fit
- Push and Pull Payments - Definition, examples, and implications
- Transaction Economics
- Bank fees, network assessments, and interchange
- Fixed fees, ad valorem fees, and basis points
- Risk and Fraud - They’re not the same thing
- Chain of Liability - Payment guarantees, who takes what risks
Payments Industry Stakeholders - 1:00 Hour
- Digital Core Systems - Cards vs. A2A Payments
- Non-Core Systems - Wallets, BNPL
- Domains of Payments - How Use Cases Differ
- Stakeholder Overview - Categories and Roles
- Payments Providers – Banks vs. networks vs. processors vs. PSPs
- Global Payments - Key Concepts
Card Payments
Card System Fundamentals - 1:00 Hour
- Historical and Contemporary Card Value Chains
- Role of Network, Role of Issuer, Role of Acquirer, Role of PSP
- Acceptance Environment - Card Present (CP) vs. Card Not Present (CNP)
- Chain of Liability in Card System
- Card Product Structure - Physical vs. Digital vs. Virtual Cards
- Card Acceptance Fundamentals
- Agreement Alternatives for Merchants - Acquirer vs. ISO vs PayFac
- Card Network Rules, Mandates, and Penalties
- Connectivity Alternatives for Merchants
- Direct vs. Processor vs Gateway
- ISO vs. Proprietary Message Formats
Card Transaction Handling - 1:00 Hour
- Dual Message vs. Single Message Processing
- Auth, Clearing, Settlement - Definitions, Data Flows, Special Conditions
- Authorization Return Codes
- Capture, Partial Capture, Multi-Auth Capture
- Void, Reversal, Refund, Partial Refund
- Zero Dollar Auth, Partial Auth
- Identifying Card Product Types
Card Processing Economics - 1:00 Hour
- Key Components - Interchange, Assessments, and End-Party Fees
- Interchange Model w/ Examples
- Merchant Discount Fee - Interchange Plus vs. Bundled
- Interchange Variation Around the World
- Downgrades, Behavioral Fees, Penalty Fees
Cross-Border Card Processing - 1:00 Hour
- Cross-Border Processing - Overview and Key Concepts
- Basic Cross-Border Processing Model
- Interchange and Assessments on Cross-Border Transactions
- Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC) Processing Model
- DCC Rules, Examples, and Where It Fits
- Multi-currency Processing for Online Merchants
Digital Payments -1:00 Hour
- Digital Payments Building Blocks
- EMVCo Tokenization
- Tokenization Use Cases
- QR Code Fundamentals
- Digital Payments: In-Store vs. In-Browser vs In-App
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Digital Wallets
- Passive Wallets - Apple Pay, Google Pay, etc.
- Staged Wallets - PayPal, Alipay, WeChat Pay, etc.
- Managing Digital Credentials
A2A Payments
ACH Processing Fundamentals - 1:00 Hour
- ACH Value Chain and Processing Model
- Using Fintechs to validate account ownership and balance
- Same Day ACH Models and Implications
- Chain of Liability in ACH
- Managing ACH Risk Exposures in Direct Debit
- Third Party Sender (TSP) vs. Third Party Service Provider (TPSP)
Fast Payments Fundamentals - 1:00 Hour
- Fast Payments Value Chain
- How Fast Payments Work
- ISO 20022 Messaging Format
- Overlay Model
- Request for Payment
- Fast Payments Risk Exposures
- Fast Payments in the US - Zelle, RTP, FedNow
- Fast Payments Around the World - Pix (Brazil), UPI (India)
- Global Card Push Payments - Rules, Economics
Payments Risk Management
Payments Risk Fundamentals - 1:00 Hour
- Risk vs. Payments Risk vs. Payments Risk Management
- Risk Management by Stakeholder
- Payments Risk Taxonomy
- Business Risks w/ Examples
- Legal Risks w/ Examples
- Settlement Risks w/ Examples
- Payments Risk and Information Security
- Fraud is an Outcome, Not a Risk
- Risk Management Tenets
Card Fraud - 1:00 Hour
- Fraud – Definition, Nature, and Patterns
- Fraud Vector Management
- Third Party vs. First Party Fraud
- Internal vs. External Fraud
- Fighting Fraud across the Card System
- Card Fraud Classifications and Controls
- Global Card Fraud Losses (cut by US only, cut by CNP only)
- PCI-DSS, Vaulting, and Hosted Checkout Flows
Fraud Mitigation for Merchants - 1:00 Hour
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Determining Fraud Patterns
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Fraud Prevention Policies and Controls
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Fraud Threats by Method and Across Vector
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Merchant Fraud Mitigation Tools
- Role of Rule-Based Systems and Machine Learning Models
- Risk Provider Framework
- Payments Security and Compliance
Back Office Operations
Card System Dispute Management - 1:00 Hour
- Chargebacks vs. Refunds
- Chargeback Fundamentals w/ Examples
- Fraud Chargebacks
- Service Chargebacks
- Administrative Chargebacks
- Merchant Representment Strategies
- Compelling Evidence
- Pre-Arbitration and Arbitration
- Chargeback Deflection Strategies - Ethoca and Verifi
Payment Vendor Selection - 1:00 Hour
- Managing Payments RFPs
- Standard Contract Components
- Standard Fees - Negotiable and Non-Negotiable
- Contract Best Practices
- Vendor Management
Measuring Card Payments Performance - 1:00 Hour
- Payments Metrics vs. Commerce Metrics
- Basic Payments Metrics
- Average Ticket (by Method, by Geography)
- Auth Rate and Decline Rate (by Method, by Geography)
- BIN Level Analysis Techniques
- Recurring Payment Metrics
- Total Cost of Payments Acceptance
Fraud Management Metrics - 1:00 Hour
- Acceptance Rate
- Manual Review Rate
- Decline Rate vs. Catch Rate
- Chargeback ratios, thresholds, and fees
- Dealing with False Positives
Payments Optimization
Domestic Payments Methods - 1:00 Hour
- Domestic Payments - Definitions and Rationalization
- Commonalities and Variation by Market
- Notable Methods in Key Markets
- Direct Debits and Mandates
- Cash Voucher Systems
Cross-Border Card Acceptance - 1:00 Hour
- Cross-Border Acceptance Models
- Motivations and Benefits
- Challenges and Requirements
- Cross-Border Card Acceptance
- Acceptance Rules in Key Domestic Markets
- Local Acquiring Specialist
- Key Regulatory Variation by Market
Buyer Authentication - 1:00 Hour
- Role of SCA in PSD2
- Two-Factor Authentication
- SCA Compliance Scope and Exempted Use Cases
- 3-D Secure and Card Network Products
- SCA Key Issues and Global Expansion
Routing and Orchestration Fundamentals - 1:00 Hour
- Debit Card Routing in the US
- PINless Debit Fundamentals
- Cross-Processor Orchestration
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