

Cardpool (YC W10) Introduces Instant Redemption, Attracts Super Angels - anson
http://techcrunch.com/2010/09/07/gift-card-marketplace-cardpool-plasticjungle/

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riffer
_Thus, with immediate, online transactions, the opportunity for fraudulent
activity (i.e. the use of unauthorized credit cards to purchase gift cards)
increases. In response to these security concerns, Tsai says Cardpool has
devised a system to carefully monitor transactions and detect patterns._

Are there startups that provide this sort of fraud detection, the way Directed
Edge does recommendations?

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nostromo
There are a few big companies that provide this service. I know of Actimize
myself. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Actimize>

A company I worked for had a problem with chargebacks, so they now run the
transactions by Actimize first, which will then give you a score of the
likelihood it is a fraudulent charge. This gives a run down of how it works:
<http://www.actimize.com/index.aspx?page=solutionsfraudcard>

If a small company wanted to compete with Actimize it would be difficult,
since they have all of the historical data and, I believe, they can connect
fraudulent accounts between merchants (e.g. amazon.com and paypal) so there is
a network effect that creates a real barrier to entry.

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tjsnyder
This is a great competitive advantage for cardpool.

I imagine gift card prices will increase since it's effectively a coupon for
anyone ordering things online now.

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aneth
Anyone have an idea how big this market is? Seems like the market for unused
gift cards for which the owner cares enough to transfer the credit, and cares
about waiting a few days, would be pretty small.

