Merchants will be 100% protected in case of consumer disputes filed for unauthorized transactions.

Our "Guaranteed Payment" program applies to direct debit transactions linked to any electronic mandate that has been collected and authenticated by SlimPay on behalf of merchants since January 1st 2012. To be covered by this service, merchants sign a contract with SlimPay. Discussions with bank partners are underway with the objective of extending this type of service to their merchant clients as well.

Managing the risk of consumer dispute claims
Due to European regulations for payment services , consumers' right to file dispute claims, which extends for a considerable period of time, means merchants run the risk of not receiving payments. This holds true no matter what payment method is used. Consumers can obtain immediate reimbursement of a payment through their banks for up to 13 months from the date of a debit transaction they claim was unauthorized. If the intended recipient of the payment, the merchant, cannot prove the authenticity of the payer's consent, the payer's bank will in turn require repayment from the merchant through his payment service provider. This transaction is commonly referred to as a chargeback.

Similarity to 3D Secure
The "Guaranteed Payment" program is similar to the 3D Secure liability shift mechanism currently in place for bank card payments. 3D Secure provides liability shift for authenticated transactions. The bank reimburses the consumer without passing the charge on to the merchant. However, our "Guaranteed Payment" program addresses some of the issues 3D Secure has had since it was begun because consumers are not required to go through their banks for reimbursement. The SlimPay service can be used by anyone who has an active bank account in any of the 3,291 banks in the 34 countries of the SEPA area.
Our solution is currently used by 1,500 merchants in Europe, including websites, call centers and retail stores.

How dooes it work?
Payer consent is collected online through an advanced electronic signature process, which is based on strong customer authentication by means of a single-use code sent by SMS. Fraud-prevention software verifies the identification data collected in real time and determines the level of risk for every transaction. As the provider of the mandate signing solution, and as the payment service provider, SlimPay manages the proof of mandate database and is the receiving agent for any payer disputes. It is thanks to this highly secure payment system that SlimPay is able to meet and exceed its clients' expectations.

"We are happy to be able to apply our expertise in managing the risks of unauthorized transactions for the benefit of our merchant clients. The guarantee we are offering is simple, very efficient and it disrupts current market practices, strengthening our leadership position in the pan-European SEPA payments sector," says Jérôme Traisnel.