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ReadersSpeak

How payments professionals
can help merchants fight fraud

e wish to thank Laura
Parker, board chair of
the Retail Gift Card
W Association for send-
ing the following information about the RGCA's mis-
sion and recent initiatives.

"The Retail Gift Card Association, www.thergca.org/, the
only nonprofit trade association representing the closed-
loop gift card industry, released two public service
announcements (PSAs) to help defend consumers
against fraud involving gift cards. The PSAs support
our association's mission to protect, promote and
enhance the use of retail gift cards as forms of branded
currency and stored value solutions that enable, enrich
and encourage commerce.

"Our PSAs arm shoppers with tips on how to identify
scams, what to do if approached by a fraudster, and how
to report the crime. And we need your help amplifying
this messaging by sharing our PSAs with your merchant
clients and partners.

"With gift cards representing a multi-billion-dollar
industry, it's important to all of us that consumers' gift
card experiences are positive. While fraud only impacts
a small fraction of the total dollar volume spent on
gift cards, we at the RGCA are working to eradicate it
and proactively stop criminals from taking advantage
of honest consumers. The PSAs provide valuable
educational resources that we hope will put an end
to these criminal acts by building awareness among
different industry stakeholder groups.

"We're providing free access to the PSAs so payments
professionals like you can share with your merchant
customers and help them educate shoppers on how to
identify fraud and avoid falling victim. We encourage
ISOs, merchant level salespeople, processors and other
merchant services providers to share our 30-second
(https://bit.ly/RGCAPSA30) and 60-second (https://bit.ly/
RGCAPSA6) PSAs with retailers, on social media, on
your websites and via email campaigns.
"The RGCA also launched www.GiftCardSafety.org,
which provides other fraud-fighting resources including
contact information for where people can report fraud,
tips to safeguard gift cards and common scams to watch
out for. Please help us fight fraud, protect shoppers and
safeguard our industries via a strong, united front."
Nonprofits to recommend?

Do you support a worthwhile organization that
intersects with the payments sphere? Tell us about it at
greensheet@greensheet.com.

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