What Drives PSPs to Choose Owlin for Their Merchant Monitoring Needs?

There are two primary reasons behind this decision. Firstly, PSPs must adhere to anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing (AML/CFT) regulations. Beyond preventing fraud, they must conduct comprehensive monitoring to assess, detect, and prevent payment-related risks. This includes transaction and risk monitoring to ensure compliance with relevant regulations and to safeguard the PSP from undue risks.

Secondly, monitoring merchants is essential for PSPs to mitigate risks associated with their merchant portfolio. During the underwriting process, PSPs assume liability and guarantee payment in case of fraud. Additionally, they are responsible for refunding customers with outstanding orders if a merchant faces financial distress or goes bankrupt. Hence, monitoring merchants for potential red flags and financial distress indicators is crucial to prevent defaults and protect the PSP.

Owlin’s capabilities extend beyond traditional news data sources, as it can detect leading risk signals from alternative sources like consumer reviews, allowing PSPs to de-risk before adverse events occur.

What Are Challenges PSPs Face When Monitoring Merchants?

PSPs encounter a range of challenges when undertaking the task of monitoring merchants. The complexity arises from managing vast and diverse portfolios, which often makes it challenging to identify potential indicators of financial distress or fraudulent activities. Moreover, obtaining all necessary information about merchants, such as bankruptcy records or other red flags, can prove arduous for PSPs. This difficulty is further amplified when dealing with data in foreign languages.

Adding to the complexity, much of the critical information needed for monitoring may not be readily accessible, necessitating labor-intensive efforts to retrieve data from non-standard media sources. Despite these obstacles, effective merchant monitoring remains integral to the PSPs’ due diligence process, ensuring a robust merchant risk management approach.

How Can Payment Service Providers Utilize Adverse Media for Monitoring Their Merchants?

PSPs can effectively utilize adverse media signals to monitor their merchants’ performance closely. These signals encompass various indicators, such as financial distress, regulatory investigations, layoffs, or downsizing. By keenly observing these signals, PSPs can promptly identify potential issues that may arise with a merchant.

Staying vigilant about adverse media signals allows PSPs to safeguard themselves from unnecessary risks and take proactive measures to protect their interests. Utilizing adverse media as a monitoring tool empowers PSPs to make informed decisions and uphold the integrity of their payment services.

How Does Owlin Assist Payment Service Providers With Monitoring Adverse Media?

With access to a vast database of over 3 million sources in 17 languages, Owlin’s platform utilizes cutting-edge AI (NLP) technology to present relevant signals through graphs and alerts. Owlin’s advanced algorithms ensure PSPs stay informed about even the most niche topics in near real-time, allowing merchant risk managers to concentrate on critical matters efficiently.