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NewsBriefs

But it's not all bad news. "Some brands delivered well,
especially those that ran promotions," Niedbalski said
during a telephone interview. Such promotions – like
buy a $50 gift card, get a $10 gift card bonus – are a
great way to fend off a slow-down in gift card sales.
"Everyone should be running promotions. They pay
for themselves," Niedbalski said.

2023 will see more fraud, experts warn
A new study from SEON, Fraud Trends 2023: What They
Really Mean for Fraudsters and Your Business, foresees es-
calating attacks against individuals and corporations
in 2023.

Bad actors are increasingly sophisticated and savvy,
researchers warned, and employ a range of attack vec-
tors largely driven by AI and advanced automated
technologies. Researchers noted the current obsession
with frictionless commerce has lowered barriers to en-
try for fraudsters across mobile apps and ecommerce
sites.

They recommended implementing cross-sector col-
laboration and anti-fraud machine learning and AI to
mitigate these types of attacks. Tamas Kadar, CEO and
co-founder of SEON, stated the report highlights the
evolving nature of internet fraud.

"Clearly, fraud is growing around the world, and those
committing these acts are becoming more brazen and
refined in their approach," he said in a statement. "If
we're not careful, nascent technologies, such as AI
could be leveraged by fraudsters even more danger-
ously in the future."
FIS readies spinoff of Worldpay

Leading acquirer Worldpay will once again be a solo
act. Its parent, FIS, is spinning off the merchant ac-
quiring business within the next 12 months. FIS was
a major provider of software and services to financial
institutions when it purchased Worldpay in 2018 for a
reported $43 billion. (At around the same time, Fiserv,
a major competitor to FIS, purchased First Data Corp.
for a reported $22 billion.)
But the move proved a drain on FIS's balance sheet.
Since the Worldpay purchase, FIS shares have lost
more than half their value.

FIS brought in a new management team and an-
nounced a "comprehensive assessment" of its business
in late 2022, which led to the planned spinoff. Stepha-
nie Ferris, FIS president and CEO, said, "We will cre-
ate two more focused, agile companies that can pursue
tailored strategies that are aligned with specific long-
term growth opportunities."

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