Marks and Spencer has tied up with technology provider Retail Decisions to market a system to help retailers cut the cost of bank chargebacks resulting from fraud or error. When a transaction is queried by a card issuer or consumer because of a stolen card, dispute over receipt of goods or cashier error, retailers have to gather documentation from stores as proof of purchase. If they do not deliver this evidence within a set timeframe the amount is charged back to the retailer. Typically, this is a time-consuming manual process. When M&S began accepting credit cards in spring 2000 it developed an automated system to more efficiently manage the process and reduce the cost of chargebacks. In order to realise value from its investment in the system M&S has transferred the intellectual property to Retail Decisions in a revenue-sharing deal. Retail Decisions head of marketing & service Myles Stephenson said food retailers would be targeted. "Fraud is not a competitive issue and the only way to manage risk is to share information and knowledge," he said. {{NEWS }}

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