Trust in digital commerce | an interview with G2A.COM

Bartosz Skwarczek, Founder at G2A.COM, shares his perspective on how ecommerce platforms should approach cybersecurity and fraud prevention. 

Findings from the G2A.COM and Juniper Research ‘Trust in Digital Commerce’ report position trust infrastructure as a key differentiator for successful marketplaces. What cybersecurity measures are now more essential than ever for ecommerce players?

Trust in digital commerce increasingly depends on how effectively platforms protect users, payments, and data from evolving cyber threats. Today, some of the most significant risks include account takeover (ATO) attacks, phishing, credential theft, and increasingly sophisticated fraud attempts targeting both consumers and businesses. As attackers adopt automation and AI-driven techniques, ecommerce platforms need the ability to detect and respond to threats at speed. 

To address these challenges, companies should combine strong identity and access management, multi-factor authentication (MFA), AI-powered risk analysis, and behavioural intelligence capable of identifying suspicious activity before it affects customers. As ecommerce ecosystems become more interconnected, securing payment flows and third-party integrations is equally critical. Encryption, tokenisation, API security, fraud prevention tools, and adherence to recognised standards, such as PCI DSS, all play important roles in protecting sensitive data and maintaining consumer confidence. 

At G2A.COM, we process around 60,000 orders daily, generating more than one million system operations across payments, verification, fraud prevention, and marketplace services. Supporting a global marketplace serving over 35 million users requires a multi-layered security strategy that combines AI-driven fraud analytics, secure payment infrastructure, advanced risk assessment, and robust compliance procedures. We also maintain rigorous seller verification processes to help ensure the integrity of the marketplace ecosystem. 

As marketplaces continue to play a growing role in digital distribution, security and resilience are becoming more important for both buyers and sellers. Ultimately, trust is built through a combination of cybersecurity, fraud prevention, secure payments, and strong platform governance. The platforms best-positioned for long-term success will be those that can anticipate emerging risks while delivering a safe and seamless user experience. 

Interestingly, fraud levels are higher in younger age groups. Why do you think that is, considering that this category is generally seen as ‘digitally savvy’?

Digital fluency should not be confused with fraud awareness. Younger consumers have grown up using online platforms, mobile payments, and social media, which often leads to the perception that they are naturally better equipped to navigate digital risks. However, the report findings suggest that familiarity with technology does not necessarily translate into greater resilience against fraud. 

Many modern scams are designed to exploit human behaviour rather than technical vulnerabilities. Fraudsters increasingly rely on social engineering tactics that create a sense of urgency, trust, or opportunity, making even digitally confident users vulnerable to manipulation. At the same time, younger consumers tend to be early adopters of new technologies, platforms, and digital services, which can increase their exposure to emerging fraud schemes before risks are widely understood. 

The broader lesson for the industry is that fraud prevention starts with education, but it cannot end there. Consumers across all generations need support, while platforms and ecosystem partners must continue investing in safer digital experiences and awareness initiatives to help them navigate an increasingly complex threat landscape.

What do consumers actually perceive as ‘secure’ services in terms of platforms, identity, and payments?

Consumers rarely evaluate security through technical standards or compliance frameworks. Instead, they look for signals that make them feel confident, protected, and in control.

In payments, trust is closely linked to familiarity and convenience. Trusted digital wallets were identified by 60% of respondents as one of the strongest indicators of a secure transaction. Consumers increasingly favour payment experiences that minimise the need to share sensitive financial information and reduce perceived risk.

The same dynamic applies to ecommerce platforms. Our research found that marketplaces are perceived as more trustworthy than direct brand purchases across all surveyed markets. Consumers value the additional reassurance that established platforms can provide through seller verification, fraud prevention measures, buyer protection, and access to support when issues arise. For consumers, security is not a technical concept; it signals trust.

A secure service combines strong protection with transparency, reliability, and confidence that the platform will help resolve problems if something goes wrong. As digital commerce evolves, successful businesses will be those that make security not only effective, but also visible, understandable, and easy for consumers to trust.

Which customer journey participants hold the most responsibility from a consumer perspective? How does this differ from the industry’s approach to who should be held accountable for fraudulent transactions?

Consumers don't care how responsibility is divided behind the scenes. They care about who they trust when something goes wrong. That mindset is clearly reflected in our research. Half of consumers believe ecommerce platforms and marketplaces should bear primary responsibility for transaction security, compared to 30% who point to banks and payment providers, and just 20% see consumers themselves as primarily responsible.

The industry, however, operates differently. Fraud prevention is a shared responsibility involving marketplaces, payment providers, financial institutions, merchants, and consumers. Each plays a critical role in identifying risks and preventing abuse. However, consumers are sending a clear message: they expect platforms to lead. At G2A.COM, we believe marketplaces have a unique role to play because they sit at the centre of the transaction ecosystem. Beyond investing in fraud prevention and security measures, platforms have an opportunity to educate users, promote best practices, and help raise trust standards across the industry.

While accountability may be distributed, trust is not. Consumers increasingly judge the safety of the entire experience through the platform they choose, which is why marketplaces must take a leadership role in building safer digital commerce.

As human touch remains important for online shopping, how does this impact the industry push towards agentic commerce, and how should marketplaces ensure they evolve according to consumer preference, and not hype?

The conversation around agentic commerce is moving faster than consumers themselves. While the industry is increasingly focused on AI agents that can search, compare offers, and complete transactions autonomously, our research suggests consumers are not yet ready to hand over that level of control. 

Today, around 30% of respondents say they are comfortable with AI making purchases on their behalf. While this indicates that consumers are not yet ready for fully autonomous commerce at scale, it is also a surprisingly strong level of trust for a technology that remains in its early stages of adoption. This doesn't mean consumers are rejecting AI. Quite the opposite. They are willing to embrace AI when it helps them make better decisions, discover relevant products, or save time.

However, consumers are less willing to delegate responsibility for the final purchasing decision. For marketplaces, this is a critical distinction. The goal should not be to replace human decision-making, but to augment it. The most successful applications of AI will help consumers navigate complexity, compare options, and shop with greater confidence, while keeping them firmly in control.

At G2A.COM, we believe the future of commerce will not be defined by how much decision-making consumers surrender to AI, but by how effectively AI helps them make better decisions. Innovation succeeds when it solves a real customer problem, not when it follows the latest technology trend. The companies winning in agentic commerce will build trust before autonomy. Consumers will ultimately decide how much control they are willing to delegate, and the market will move at their pace, not the industry's.

About the author

An entrepreneur with over 20 years of experience, coach, mentor, and public speaker. The founder of G2A.COM, the largest and most dynamically developing global marketplace with vouchers for digital products such as games, gift cards, subscriptions, or software. The marketplace already has had over 25 million customers from 180 countries around the world.

 

About G2A.COM