Mastercard said it is expanding its First Party Trust program to tackle “friendly” fraud. Also known as first-party fraud, the term refers to genuine transactions that are challenged by cardholders, whether it’s deliberately or happens by mistake. eCommerce has revolutionized the transaction experience while also increasing the need for transparency of payments for merchants, small business owners and entrepreneurs. It is now easier than ever for a customer to dispute a debit or credit card transaction they don’t recognize. The card issuer must then determine whether to provide that cardholder with a refund for the transaction amount — this is known as a chargeback. The global cost of chargebacks to merchants is projected to rise to $42 billion by 2028, with almost half of those transactions being reported as fraudulent. To help deal with this issue, Mastercard says it is expanding its First-Party Trust program, introduced in 2023, to Canada, Latin America, the Caribbean and across the Asia Pacific region. The program assists businesses both big and small with burdensome time and resource-intensive issues, such as researching and addressing claims. It provides enhanced data-sharing, either at the time of transaction or at the time a dispute is raised. Issuers can better identify third-party fraud, where someone’s details are used without consent, from first-party fraud and gain reliable information to resolve cardholder disputes.