BOISE, Idaho, Aug. 4, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- The rate of mobile fraud is highest on Android devices, according to new data from Kount, Inc., released today at the Kount Fraud360 World Tour event in San Francisco, with mobile fraud also outpacing that of online and in-store fraud for the first time this year. The company analyzed over 100 million transactions across various devices from its customer base of thousands of merchants across all retail categories from 2011 to June of 2015. The data also shows that average transaction amounts on iOS mobile devices are greater than those made from Android devices.

While the rates of fraud on Android devices has not always exceeded that of iOS devices, this trend shifted in 2013, when Android overtook iOS. In fact, fraud rates on iOS devices have steadily decreased since Kount began tracing the data in 2011. On Android devices, fraud rates increased between 2011 and 2013, and has held steady since 2014.

• In 2011, fraud on iOS devices was greater than Android devices by 45 percent.
• In 2012, the gap closed to nine percent.
• In 2013, the fraud rate on Android devices was higher than on iOS by 17 percent, which grew to 44 percent in 2014 and it remains at 44 percent for the first six months in 2015.

"With consumers increasingly transacting on mobile and the adoption of EMV technology in the United States, we expect to see mobile fraud rates continue to increase versus online and in-store purchases," said Don Bush, vice president of marketing at Kount. "Merchants may be implementing increased fraud protection measures for online and in-store transactions, but they're still playing catch up when it comes to mobile fraud protection. It's imperative that retailers – and everyone in the retail and financial sectors – understand the myriad risks with mobile transactions and take the necessary steps to put mobile-specific fraud protection in place."

Kount's data also uncovered the following:

iOS Users Spend More on Average than Android Users:

• Average transaction amounts on iOS devices consistently have been higher than those made from Android devices:
  • In 2011, iPhone purchases ($76.39) were $28.27 greater than those on Android phones ($48.12), while iPad purchases were highest at $107.13.
  • In 2014, the gap continued to widen, with iOS phone average transactions ($124.47) almost $60 more than those on Android phones ($65.22), and iPad average transactions increasing to $164.19.
• The trend continues within apps: the average transaction amount in 2014 in Android apps was $2.24 lower than within iOS apps.
• Average online and in-store transaction amounts were greater than those on mobile devices overall until the first six months of 2015 in which purchases on the iPhone ($129.94) and iPad ($164.19) began to exceed non-mobile transactions ($106.94).

Mobile Fraud Rate on the Rise:

• Fraud is on-the-go, as mobile fraud between 2011 and 2015 to date has increased by 81 percent.
• The fraud rate for non-mobile transactions has decreased by 50 percent from 2011 to 2014 and in the first six months of 2015, the fraud rate dropped another 50 percent from 2014, largely due to the sharp increase in mobile transactions.

"While trends demonstrate certain operating systems have higher rates of incidence, mobile fraud is not limited to any one type of phone, tablet, or transaction," continued Bush. "Before companies can effectively stem fraud, they must first identify the origin and device type behind each mobile transaction and take the necessary steps from there. We anticipate the shift to EMV in the US this fall will lead to a decrease in-store fraud, but also expect that fraud will continue to shift to mobile channels."

The Kount Fraud 360 World Tour provides industry executives with a free half-day seminar that features fraud experts from MasterCard, Braintree/PayPal, Kount, CardNotPresent.com, emailage and ethoca. Session topics include payment and security trends, EMV, cross-border transactions, mobile fraud and issuer-merchant collaboration. For more information on Kount or the Fraud 360 events, visit http://www.kount.com/events/fraud-360-seminar-series.

Methodology
Kount analyzed data from over 100 million transactions across various devices from its customer base of thousands of merchants spanning from 2011 to June of 2015. Merchant industries include digital goods, multi-channel, online games, retail, travel, telecommunications, among others.

About Kount
Kount helps businesses boost sales by reducing fraud. Our all-in-one, SaaS platform simplifies fraud detection and helps online and mobile businesses accept more orders. Kount's turnkey fraud platform is easy-to-implement and easy-to-use. Kount's proprietary technology reviews billions of data points and provides maximum protection for some of the world's best-known brands. Merchants using Kount can accept more orders from more people in more places than ever before. For more information about Kount, please visit www.kount.com.

SOURCE Kount