Continuous Merchant Risk Monitoring
Don’t let high-risk merchants catch you off guard. Owlin empowers you to screen, monitor, and manage merchant risk with real-time AI insights—helping you stay proactive, compliant, and in control.
High-risk merchants pose hidden threats
From unexpected chargebacks to reputational damage and compliance violations, high-risk merchants can introduce serious threats.
Owlin’s continuous merchant monitoring service uncovers hidden issues and provides early warnings across your entire merchant portfolio, allowing you to react quickly and protect your business.
Transparent, trustworthy risk signals
Owlin delivers detailed, explainable scores and news-driven summaries—no opaque models, just actionable data that helps you understand why a merchant is high-risk.
Cut chargebacks & stay compliant
Ensure AML/KYC compliance with automated onboarding checks and ongoing merchant monitoring, minimizing chargebacks.
Seamless integrations
Monitor merchants for behavior that triggers chargebacks or regulatory scrutiny. Our platform supports compliance by alerting you to suspicious activity and onboarding risks.
Integrate risk intelligence into your workflow
Owlin connects seamlessly with your systems, so whether you’re underwriting or managing ongoing risk, the insights you need are exactly where you need them.
Why payment service providers trust Owlin for monitoring high-risk merchants
AI-driven merchant risk identification
Owlin’s merchant monitoring tool scans key data points during onboarding to flag high-risk entities before they enter your ecosystem. We help you reduce exposure from the start with intelligent assessments and regulatory safeguards.
Real-time surveillance for merchant risk
Monitoring risk doesn’t stop after approval. Owlin tracks live media mentions, consumer sentiment, and other data sources—ensuring early detection of changes that signal heightened risk or deterioration in merchant behavior.
Fast setup. Flexible configuration
Get started in minutes with intuitive tools and easily customizable monitoring settings. Configure merchant groups, set risk thresholds, and choose your alerting preferences.
Monitor merchant risk across a global data landscape
Owlin cross-references global risk sources—so you get complete merchant risk visibility without the manual work.
Adverse media
Detect negative news about a merchant across over 3 million sources in multiple languages.
Consumer reviews
Detect potential issues at merchants early with 24/7 consumer review monitoring.
Tailored merchant risk insights, delivered where you need them
Interactive dashboard
View risks by severity, category, or time. Our dashboard puts the most pressing merchant threats front and center.
API / Integrations
Plug Owlin’s insights into your existing merchant monitoring tools or platforms—ensuring high-risk merchant intelligence becomes part of your automated workflows.
Newsletter
Get concise summaries of urgent developments, risk escalations, and new threats—delivered daily or weekly.
How leading PSPs monitor risk with Owlin
Explore how our customers use Owlin to manage high-risk merchants and safeguard their business.
Monitor your merchant portfolio with confidence
Owlin equips you with the tool to monitor your merchant relationships 24/7. From onboarding to ongoing monitoring, we help you reduce exposure, improve compliance, and stay one step ahead of risk.
News
Discover what’s new at Owlin, from partnerships to product releases.
Your questions answered
PSPs can use consumer reviews to monitor their merchants’ performance. Negative product or service reviews, order fulfillment delays, disputed transactions, and complaints about a merchant’s business practices indicate a potential problem. By keeping an eye on customer reviews, PSPs can help ensure they are not exposed to undue risk and can take the necessary steps to protect their finances.
PSPs can use adverse media signals to monitor their merchants’ performance. These signals include indicators such as financial distress, regulatory investigations, and layoffs or downsizing, all of which can be used to identify potential issues with a merchant. By being aware of these signals, PSPs can help ensure they are not exposed to undue risk and can take the necessary steps to protect themselves.
Merchant risk can take many forms:
- Merchant Bankruptcy Risk occurs when a merchant cannot repay debts due to bankruptcy.
- Excessive Chargeback Risk is a type of risk that occurs when a credit card provider demands that the merchant cover the loss on a fraudulent or disputed transaction.
- Collusive/Fraudulent Risk occurs when a merchant commits fraud using its customers’ (cardholder) accounts and/or personal information.
- Money Laundering/Counter-Terrorism Financing Risk occurs when a merchant processes suspect/ non-vetted transactions on behalf of another business.
PSPs face several challenges when it comes to monitoring merchants. This includes monitoring large, diverse portfolios and not always knowing where to look for signs of financial distress or fraudulent activity. Additionally, PSPs must be able to access and read all the necessary information about their merchants, including any bankruptcies or other red flags. It can be challenging when the data is written in a foreign language. Furthermore, much of this information is not easily accessible, and labor-intensive retrieval from non-standard media can be required to find it. These factors can make it difficult for PSPs to monitor their merchant portfolios effectively, but it is an essential part of their due diligence process.
There are two main reasons for PSPs to monitor their merchants. Firstly, they must comply with anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing (AML/CFT) regulations like PSD3 in the EU. This monitoring goes beyond just preventing fraud; it is a duty to assess, detect, and prevent any risks associated with payments and account access. This involves transaction and risk monitoring to ensure that all relevant regulations are followed and that the payment service provider is not exposed to undue risks.
Secondly, PSPs must monitor merchants to mitigate the risk of their merchant portfolio. This is especially critical in the underwriting process, in which PSPs accept liability and guarantee payment in the event of fraud. In addition, the PSP is responsible for refunding customers with outstanding orders or payments if a merchant goes bankrupt. Therefore, PSPS must monitor merchants for any signs of financial distress or other red flags that may lead to a merchant defaulting on their payments. Owlin can also help to detect leading risk signals from alternative data sources, such as consumer reviews, to de-risk ahead of an adverse event occurring.