Merchants are unprepared for ATO, Riskified's survey finds

The survey shows that ATO attacks have a huge negative impact on customers and merchants, damaging brand reputation and hurting merchants’ bottom lines. Despite that, many merchants lack security measures, and 35% of merchants report that at least 10% of their accounts have been taken over in the last 12 months. 65% of customers say they would likely stop buying from a merchant if their account was compromised, while 54% of customers say they would delete their account, 39% would go to a competitor, and 30% say they would tell their friends to stop shopping with the merchant.

Merchants face some challenges in preventing ATOs:

• 27% of merchants admit that they do not have measures in place to prevent ATOs;
• 24% of merchants can’t identify an ATO during a purchase;
• 14% of merchants say they are not even aware that an ATO has occurred unless a customer contacts them;
• Only 7.5% of customers learn their accounts were compromised from the merchant. The vast majority spot changes to their accounts or learn of unauthorised purchases.

Additional key findings from Riskified’s survey show:

• 83% of customers say they have accounts on individual sites for shopping;
• 75% do most or all of their online shopping with merchants where they have accounts;
• 42% said they shop more frequently when they have an account;
• Over 67% of the merchants surveyed say at least half of their orders come from customers with accounts;
• 58% of merchants report that account holders spend more per purchase than customers who use guest checkout;
• 61% say that account holders purchase more frequently than customers who use guest checkout.