Mastercard has launched Merchant Trust Services to help banks and payment providers detect scam merchants earlier.
The service uses Mastercard’s network intelligence, cyber and identity tools, and real-time analytics to assess merchant risk during onboarding and ongoing monitoring.
It comes as fake online storefronts become harder to spot, with scammers using generative AI to create convincing websites, ads, reviews and customer testimonials.
Consumers lost US$442 billion globally to online scams in 2025, according to the Global Anti-Scam Alliance’s Global State of Scams 2025 report.
Mastercard is also introducing the Merchant Scam & Risk Indicator, which gives issuers real-time merchant risk signals during authorisation.
In a pilot with a leading issuer, the indicator detected about 80% of risky merchants identified by the issuer.
Some were flagged up to 90 days before the issuer’s first escalation.
The indicator will first be available in Europe and the United States, with plans to expand globally within the year.
Mastercard is also updating its franchise standards from July.
Acquirers and payment facilitators will be required to investigate within 72 hours when potential scam activity reaches a defined risk threshold.
If the activity is confirmed, the merchant must be stopped from accepting Mastercard transactions.
“Digital commerce only works when people trust what’s on the other side of the screen. If we let scammers keep posing as legitimate businesses, we don’t just lose money — we lose confidence.
We need to secure this trust for the good of the entire digital ecosystem: from consumers to banks and the honest merchants who are trying to grow.”
said Ann Johnson, Executive Vice President of Security Solutions at Mastercard.
Featured image: Edited by Fintech News Singapore, based on image by noob via Magnific
