Unzer
How Unzer Builds a Merchant-First Risk Strategy With Flexible, Real-Time Fraud Defense
Industry:
Merchant Acquirers
Region:
Europe
Solution:
Transaction Fraud for Acquirers
Unzer is one of Europe’s most versatile and fast-growing payment companies. With more than a dozen businesses spanning acquiring, payment facilitation, alternative payments, POS terminals, SaaS, debt collection, and buy now, pay later services, the group supports merchants across Germany, Austria, Switzerland, the Nordics, and beyond. Their mission is simple: deliver every capability a merchant needs, with a seamless and trusted experience behind every transaction.
For Markus Laudenbach, Director Acquiring Risk, that promise starts with strong protection. His team is responsible for risk underwriting, dispute management, chargebacks, and real-time transaction monitoring. They operate across a diverse portfolio where fraud patterns shift quickly, regulations evolve, and merchants expect high approval rates with very low friction.
Four years ago, Unzer brought in Feedzai to unify and elevate risk operations across multiple entities. Today, the results speak for themselves.
A Fragmented Fraud Landscape Required a Flexible Solution
Unzer grew through a series of acquisitions. Each entity brought its own processes for transaction monitoring, rules, and systems. Some were manual. Some were homegrown. A few were not built for the scale and pace Unzer needed.
The team evaluated several vendors and returned to Feedzai as the clear choice, both during the initial selection and again during a recent re-evaluation.
According to Markus, the decision came down to flexibility, speed, and a partner mindset.
“Feedzai is like an empty canvas. We can configure what we need, when we need it, without waiting for a provider to make every change. In payments, you sometimes see a fraud pattern at five in the afternoon on a Friday. We need to write a rule, deploy it, and stop the damage. Feedzai lets us do that.”
This agility allows Unzer to adapt to new fraud vectors, new markets, and new merchant needs in real time.
Driving Accuracy and Analyst Efficiency at Scale
Unzer has a highly skilled data analysis team that continuously refines their models and rules. With Feedzai providing flexible tooling and a unified platform, the team drove measurable improvements.
Key outcomes:
- 60 percent reduction in false positives since going live
- A manageable alert load for analysts, resulting in sharper focus and stronger decision quality
- Faster response times when new attack patterns emerge
- Stronger consistency across multiple business lines and regions
Reducing false positives has been a major win for team morale and accuracy. As Markus explained:
“If analysts review one hundred false positives in a row, they might call the next one a false positive by default. Bringing down noise keeps people motivated and focused. That is where the efficiency gains come from.”
Unzer’s risk team is now piloting Feedzai TrustScore to add more intelligence and reduce manual effort even further.
Early indicators look strong.
A Merchant-First Philosophy with Industry-Leading Approval Rates
Unzer’s approach is “merchant first”. Instead of blocking transactions based on static rules, they choose a higher-involvement model that considers the merchant and protects revenue for them.
The results are exceptional.
Markus describes it as core to their strategy.
“The industry approves normally between 85 and 90 percent of transactions. We are north of that. We do not block first and ask questions later. We review alerts in-house so merchants do not lose good volume. If something looks unusual, we reach out. The merchant decides. We guide them.”
This hands-on approach strengthens trust and unlocks more revenue for merchants who want to expand into new countries or add new services. With Feedzai’s adaptability, Unzer can quickly tune rules and protections to support different markets, as behavior differs between European regions.
Exploring New Innovation Together
While Unzer’s setup has been primarily rule-based, AI has already started to play an increasing role in their risk strategy. The team is already testing TrustScore and discussing new models for SCA and TRA exemptions that could reduce friction and increase merchant volume across entire portfolios.
Markus believes the future will be a mix of rules and AI.
“Rules can create false positives and AI models sometimes miss emerging patterns. Together they complement each other. The combination gives the best balance of protection and efficiency.”
The goal is to scale while giving merchants the safest and smoothest possible experience.
A Partnership Built on People and Innovation
While technology was a key factor, Markus points to collaboration as one of the biggest advantages.
“For us, it is fifty-fifty. Technology matters a lot, but so do the people. Having a partner who is reliable and moves things forward quickly is incredibly valuable. It is the same standard we hold ourselves to with our merchants.”
Unzer also values the pace of innovation. After spending time with Feedzai’s R&D teams, including co-founder Pedro Bizarro, Markus noted how important it is to have a partner that continues to evolve.
“Some companies reach a certain level and stop innovating. With Feedzai, it never feels like that. The technology keeps moving forward, and that is critical because payments keep changing.”
Looking Ahead: More Collaboration and More Intelligent Automation
Unzer and Feedzai are already planning new pilots and deeper integrations. The payments landscape is shifting quickly, with merchants offering new AI-based services and regulators raising expectations.
Unzer’s vision is clear.
- Continue to improve operational efficiency
- Expand AI-powered capabilities
- Support merchant growth across new markets
- Build more automated processes that enhance revenue and reduce friction
Feedzai will remain a core partner in that journey.
“We bring different things to the table, and together we can offer unique solutions for merchants. Payments move fast. You need a partner that is not stuck in the past.”
