How Stitch works to fight and prevent fraud for enterprise businesses

As online commerce in South Africa continues to grow, fraud attempts are becoming more frequent, more sophisticated and more closely intertwined with customer experience. For merchants, the challenge is not only to prevent fraud, but to do so without introducing friction that undermines conversion, trust or growth.

At Stitch, fraud prevention is engineered into our infrastructure. We approach fraud as a systems problem, combining secure foundations, intelligent controls and continuous monitoring to help businesses protect revenue across industries, channels and payment flows.

Merchants that rely on the Stitch embedded anti-fraud solution to detect and prevent fraud have achieved:

• Fraud reduction of over 90% (from 5.5% to under 0.5%, on average)
• Over $50 million in fraud losses prevented
• Acceptable fraud thresholds reached in as little as 1 month 

Here’s how we approach fraud detection and prevention.

Fraud prevention starts with secure infrastructure

The most effective way to reduce fraud risk is to limit exposure in the first place. This is why our approach begins at the infrastructure layer.

Stitch operates with security as a core design principle, adhering to internationally recognised standards. Our systems are built to ensure that sensitive data is protected end to end, reducing the attack surface available to fraudsters.

A key example is our designated PCI Point-to-Point Encryption (P2PE) offering Today we are officially listed by the PCI Security Standards Council (PCI SSC) as a PCI P2PE (Point-to-Point Encryption) solution, having undergone rigorous testing and adherence. For merchants that leverage Stitch for in-person payments, we encrypt card data from the moment it is captured at the point of interaction through to a secure decryption environment. By ensuring that clear card data never enters merchant systems, this approach significantly reduces the risk of data compromise and can simplify PCI DSS compliance for merchants.

In addition, Stitch has an ISO 27001 certification for its Information Security Management System (ISMS). This certification signals to enterprise customers that security at Stitch is governed, monitored and continuously improved, rather than treated as a one-off milestone.

Intelligent authentication without unnecessary friction

Authentication is one of the most visible points where fraud prevention can clash with customer experience. One-size-fits-all approaches risk forcing all users through the same high-friction steps, regardless of risk.

Stitch takes a different approach, particularly when it comes to card payments, by offering Dynamic 3D Secure (3DS). 3DS can be configured to match a merchant’s risk tolerance and transaction types. It enables merchants to decide between no or minimal authentication (higher risk appetite), based on pre-set rules that determine potential risk, or always-on authentication (for maximum security). Each configuration helps merchants keep online purchases safe while defending against failed payments and chargebacks:

The result is improved fraud protection without the conversion penalties associated with blanket authentication rules.

Embedded fraud controls across the payment lifecycle

Fraud rarely occurs at a single point in time. It can surface at checkout, during fulfilment, when requesting a refund, or even weeks later through chargebacks and disputes. This is why Stitch approaches fraud prevention across the entire payment lifecycle, not just the transaction itself.

Our embedded fraud solution is designed to sit directly within payment flows, enabling real-time risk assessment, transaction monitoring and automated responses. These controls help businesses detect suspicious patterns early, respond quickly and reduce downstream losses.

Because these capabilities are embedded across our platform rather than external, they benefit from deep visibility into payment context, including method, timing, customer behaviour and historical patterns, as well as millions of data points from transactions processed over the years. This allows for more accurate risk signals than standalone tools that operate in isolation.

Designed for multiple industries and use cases

Fraud manifests differently across industries. The risk profile of an e-commerce marketplace is not the same as that of a financial services platform, a subscription business or a high-frequency on-demand service.

The way Stitch approaches fraud and security is designed to be industry-agnostic but context-aware. Controls are flexible enough to support a wide range of use cases, while still enforcing consistent security standards at the infrastructure level.

This matters for enterprises operating across multiple verticals or channels. Rather than stitching together separate fraud tools for each use case, businesses can rely on a single, coherent approach that adapts to different risk patterns while maintaining central oversight.

Switch to Stitch

Fraud prevention is no longer about isolated tools or reactive controls. For modern enterprises, it is an architectural decision that affects trust, conversion and long-term resilience.

Our approach combines secure foundations, intelligent decisioning and embedded controls to help businesses detect and prevent fraud without compromising performance. As fraud continues to evolve, building on a robust, certified infrastructure is one of the most effective ways to stay ahead.

Frequently asked questions

How does Stitch prevent fraud without hurting conversion?

Stitch uses risk-based controls such as dynamic 3DS, which apply additional authentication only when transactions show elevated risk, reducing unnecessary friction for legitimate customers.

What role does PCI P2PE play in fraud prevention?

PCI P2PE encrypts card data from the point of interaction to a secure decryption environment, preventing clear card data from entering merchant systems and reducing exposure to data theft.

Why is ISO 27001 important for enterprise customers?

ISO 27001 demonstrates that Stitch operates a structured, audited information security management system, providing assurance that security risks are actively managed and reviewed.

Is Stitch’s fraud solution suitable for multiple industries?

Yes. Stitch’s embedded fraud controls are designed to adapt to different industry risk profiles while maintaining consistent security standards at the infrastructure level.

Where can I learn more about Stitch’s fraud and security capabilities?

This guide links to deeper resources across the Stitch blog and product pages, including detailed explanations of encryption, authentication and embedded fraud controls.