The CardLinx Association, the new association that facilitates the interoperability and growth of card-linked offers (CLOs), and Deem, a cloud commerce company delivering Commerce-as-a-Service (CaaS) to a large and diverse ecosystem of customers, has announced a new draft protocol, the CardLinx Chameleon Standard, for pro-actively combating fraud resulting from returns of CLO purchases. CLOs are generally much more secure than paper coupons, promotion codes and paper vouchers. CLOs, in which a customer’s use of a payment card automatically generates a discount, pose limited fraud risks. The principal known fraud scenario involves returns or chargebacks with the intent to retain discounts.
The CardLinx Chameleon Standard will strengthen the card-linked industry by protecting merchants from offer misuse. The new standard addresses when a rebate reversal should occur and capabilities for automatic reversals. It also establishes data reporting requirements that will enable detection of fraud patterns and fraudsters in real time.
A task force, chaired by Deem, has completed a draft of the CardLinx Chameleon Standard, which is now available for member comment at www.cardlinx.org. In addition to Deem, other companies participating in the task force include MasterCard, Living Social, CardLytics, and ValPak/Cox Target Media.
The CardLinx Chameleon Standard will play a critical role in card-linked commerce at a time when transaction security has become increasingly important.
“The Chameleon Standard protocol ultimately protects all participants and underscores our commitment to a trusted marketplace for CLOs” said Patrick Grady, CEO of Deem. Deem is a founding member company of CardLinx.
“The draft standard is a great example of the tremendous co-operation among CardLinx members who worked together to establish a shared mechanism for fraud detection and prevention,” said CardLinx President and founding CEO, Silvio Tavares.
