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Brazil’s e-commerce sector, long celebrated for fuelling economic momentum in Latin America, is now facing a formidable challenge: a surge in online payment fraud and disputes.
Brazil’s e-commerce fraud surge
Industry leaders RS2 and ACI Worldwide are sounding the alarm, urging a sector-wide rethink of how fraud is detected, managed, and mitigated in one of the region’s most dynamic digital markets.
Recent data from Visa Acceptance Solutions underscores the gravity of the issue: during H1 2024, the average value of fraudulent online transactions in Brazil was 60% higher than that of genuine purchases.
With credit cards accounting for 34% of all online payment methods — and being especially susceptible to misuse — the pressure on merchants and financial institutions is intensifying.
A Storm of Chargebacks
At the centre of the storm are chargebacks: transaction reversals triggered when consumers dispute purchases, often citing fraud, delivery failures, or so-called “friendly fraud” where legitimate purchases are contested.
These disputes impose steep operational costs on retailers and payment processors alike, while simultaneously denting consumer confidence.
Vlademir Santos, Head of Brazil at ACI Worldwide, highlights the pivotal role of technology: “AI and machine learning offer critical tools for real-time fraud detection and smarter dispute handling.
Automating these processes reduces costs and improves the customer experience while fortifying the broader payments ecosystem.”
A Complex Landscape
Brazil’s fraud landscape is increasingly complex.
Criminals are using tactics ranging from phishing and fake storefronts to falsified payment confirmations and full-scale account takeovers.
These attacks don’t merely threaten transactional integrity — they also damage brand reputation and eat into already pressured merchant margins.
Operational bottlenecks compound the issue.
Fragmented infrastructure, limited system interoperability, and inflexible card scheme rules — combined with response deadlines as short as seven days — make it harder for merchants to defend against chargebacks effectively.
This is where RS2 and ACI Worldwide see a transformational opportunity.
“The future of global e-commerce hinges on harmonising innovation with security,” says Florian Heuberger, Senior Product Manager at RS2.
“Advanced solutions are no longer optional — they’re essential to maintaining trust in digital commerce.”
One proposed solution lies in orchestration technology: middleware that integrates banking, acquiring, and merchant systems.
This centralised, automated architecture can streamline workflows, enable real-time data sharing, and, according to internal analysis from RS2 and ACI, cut dispute management costs by as much as 38.5%.
The message is unequivocal: Brazil’s payments ecosystem must evolve — or risk being outpaced by its own digital ambitions.
Those who embrace AI-driven fraud prevention and operational integration today will be best placed to capitalise on tomorrow’s e-commerce growth.
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