Blog Articles

LegitScript has launched two new reporting updates to keep client portfolios safe from merchants offering unauthorized tobacco products and illegal sales to minors. Keep reading to learn how we are helping payment processors and online platforms navigate this high-risk landscape.

Prediction markets promise crowdsourced forecasting, but they’re pulling payment processors into a regulatory gray zone. The CFTC treats them as futures contracts. Several states call them gambling. That split leaves acquirers and ISOs exposed to compliance risk they didn’t sign up for. Keep reading to learn more about these merchants.

A group of state attorneys general just told major card networks to stop processing for illegal vape sellers. Learn what the letter is asking card networks to do, and the exact questions banks, ISOs, and PSPs need to answer before regulators come knocking.

Brazil has embraced digital payments faster than almost anywhere else in the world. That growth is a genuine success story — and it has created an entirely new risk landscape that payments companies and online platforms cannot afford to ignore. Read more.

The better you can document a violation and your response to it, the less exposure your business carries. Keep reading to learn more about best practices for documenting violative merchant activity and how to incorporate it into your work.

Merchant underwriting used to follow a checklist process, but AI has turned that approach on its head, forcing underwriting teams to think differently. Learn more about how payments companies are rethinking their approaches to stopping merchant fraud in an era where technology is rapidly changing.

Streaming piracy isn’t just a headache for Hollywood — it’s a growing liability for payments companies. Learn how illicit IPTV works, why it almost always involves transaction laundering, and what payments teams should look for when assessing merchant risk.

As telehealth and digital pharmacy models mature, what began as a convenience-driven expansion of care has evolved into a structurally important component of the healthcare ecosystem. With that maturity comes new demands, not just in how care is delivered and marketed, but in how it is paid for. Read more.

While drugs like fentanyl and cocaine may be top of mind regarding threats to public health, a potpourri of lesser-known products are posing increasing risks to consumers, payment processors, and online platforms. And they’re all surprisingly easy to get. Read more about these “gas station highs.”

Late last year, Visa began enforcing new standards within the Visa Integrity Risk Program (VIRP) that affect adult content, dating services, and escort services. These updates raise expectations for merchant classification, transparency, and compliance. Keep reading to learn about these changes.

As payment ecosystems grow more complex, sponsor banks are under increasing pressure to maintain effective oversight of their downstream merchant portfolios. At the same time, managing merchant risk at scale has never been more challenging. Keep reading to learn how LegitScript is tackling this challenge.

Dietary supplements containing peptides are popping up across e-commerce. These products are often marketed for building muscle, promoting longevity, or healing from injury. Learn why they are generally problematic according to regulators and card networks.

Payments companies are under increasing pressure to onboard merchants faster while maintaining compliance requirements. During LegitScript’s recent webinar, industry experts discussed provisional approvals as one strategy to strike that balance. Read our key takeaways from the talk.

Learn about the Federal Trade Commission’s evolving enforcement priorities and what it means for payment companies navigating today’s compliance environment.

With holiday spending set to rise this year, payment processors and online marketplaces vulnerable to increasingly sophisticated scams and other high-risk tactics. Keep reading to learn about illicit and brand-damaging behavior that can spike during the holiday season.