The digital goods economy is booming. From gift cards and gaming credits to eSIMs and mobile top-ups, merchants are scaling globally at lightning speed. But with that opportunity comes heightened risk: fraud in this space is faster, harder to detect, and more damaging than ever. Alphacomm, the Rotterdam-headquartered payments specialist, has been tackling these challenges for more than 25 years. Their latest solution, Protectmaxx, is designed specifically for digital goods merchants and comes with a rare promise in the industry: a 100% chargeback guarantee. To explore the challenges of fraud in digital commerce, and how Protectmaxx is helping merchants grow safely, we spoke with Michiel Rouppe van der Voort, CEO of Alphacomm.
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Q: Can you introduce Alphacomm and the core mission behind your work in digital payments?
Michiel Rouppe van der Voort: Alphacomm has been shaping the digital commerce landscape since 1997. Our core mission is simple yet ambitious: to make digital commerce safer, smarter, and more profitable for merchants. We do this by combining deep expertise in payments, fraud prevention, and digital goods enablement. With a global team of “revenue geeks and fraud fighters,” we help merchants unlock growth while protecting them from the complex fraud challenges that come with selling intangible, instantly delivered products.
Q: Digital goods are booming: what kinds of products fall into this category, and what trends are shaping this space?
Michiel: Digital goods include top-ups, gift cards, gaming credits, eSIMs, and other instantly deliverable, non-tangible products. These products are highly attractive to consumers because of their speed and convenience, and they are equally attractive to fraudsters because of their liquidity and resale value. Trends shaping the space include the rise of instant payments, cross-border digital trade, and the growing demand for virtual-first services such as mobile connectivity, digital entertainment, and fintech apps.
Q: What opportunities and risks come with this growth?
Michiel: The opportunity lies in scale and global reach—digital merchants can serve millions of customers instantly and diversify into fast-growing verticals like gaming and telecommunications. The risk, however, is equally steep: fraud exposure, reputational damage, and regulatory pressure. Since digital goods can’t be “returned,” once fraud happens, the loss is final. Without specialist protection, digital goods merchants risk higher chargeback rates, strained PSP/acquirer relationships, and even being cut off from key payment methods.
Q: Why are digital goods particularly exposed to fraud compared to physical products?
Michiel: Unlike physical goods, digital products are instantly delivered, borderless, and easily resellable. Fraudsters don’t need to wait for shipping, and merchants can’t intercept or reverse delivery. This immediacy makes fraud losses more severe and frequent.
Q: Can you give examples of the most common fraud types you see in this space?
Michiel:
• Account Takeover (ATO): Fraudsters hijack customer accounts to make unauthorized purchases.
• Friendly fraud: Consumers falsely dispute legitimate purchases, often because they regret or forget them.
• Stolen credit card use: Criminals use compromised card data to buy high-value digital goods for quick resale.
Q: What inspired Alphacomm to create Protectmaxx?
Michiel: Alphacomm’s story began over 25 years ago, when telecom companies were shifting from selling prepaid top-ups in physical stores to offering them online. We stepped in to make this transition possible by providing checkout pages, full webshops, our own payment gateway, and an in-house fraud solution. That early focus on securing high-risk, instant digital transactions gave us unique expertise long before “digital goods fraud” was on most people’s radar.
As the market expanded into gaming, gift cards, eSIMs, and other instantly delivered products, fraud became more sophisticated while existing fraud tools remained geared toward general e-commerce. Protectmaxx was born to close this gap—a specialist solution tailored to the speed, scale, and risk profile of digital goods, backed by the confidence of a 100% chargeback guarantee by Alphacomm.
Q: How does Protectmaxx actually work at the checkout?
Michiel: Protectmaxx integrates directly into the PSP or acquirer checkout flow. When a customer initiates a purchase, our system evaluates the transaction in under 100ms. The risk engine combines machine learning models, dynamic rule sets, behavioral analytics, and historical data to deliver an instant decision—approve or decline, without slowing down the customer journey. In case of suspicious activity, the fraud team is doing the review and adjust the rules and ML models.
Q: How does your 24/7 analyst team complement the machine learning and rules engine?
Michiel: Fraudsters are always adapting—just as they did back when online top-ups first appeared. That’s why Protectmaxx isn’t just about technology. Our 24/7 fraud analyst team constantly monitors live transactions, identifies emerging fraud patterns, and fine-tunes our rules and models. This “human-in-the-loop” approach means merchants benefit from both real-time AI precision and human judgment, reducing false positives and staying ahead of evolving fraud tactics.
Q: And the 100% chargeback guarantee — how does that work in practice?
Michiel: If we approve a transaction that later results in a chargeback, Alphacomm absorbs the financial loss—not the merchant. This 100% chargeback guarantee means digital merchants can scale confidently, protect their margins, and focus on growth, knowing they’re shielded from the unpredictability of fraud.
Q: Why should merchants pay close attention to their chargeback rates today more than ever?
Michiel: High chargeback ratios don’t just cost money—they threaten a merchant’s ability to process payments at all. Card schemes are stricter than ever, and one slip can mean higher fees, penalties, or being cut off by acquirers. With digital goods, where losses are irreversible, chargeback management isn’t optional—it’s business critical.
Q: Visa and Mastercard have recently tightened their chargeback and fraud thresholds. How do these changes impact digital merchants, and how does Protectmaxx help?
Michiel: The latest changes mean that fraud alerts and chargebacks are now counted together, leaving merchants with even less margin for error. For fast-moving digital goods, that’s a major compliance challenge. Protectmaxx helps merchants stay safely below thresholds by combining real-time fraud prevention, 24/7 monitoring, and indemnification.
We are also ready to support merchants with Visa’s VAMP (Visa Acquirer Monitoring Program) by coaching them on requirements and compliance. Educating merchants helps them assess the risks of non-compliance and adapt effectively.
Q: How do you ensure fraud protection doesn’t harm user experience or conversion?
Michiel: From the very beginning—when we enabled telecoms to deliver prepaid codes instantly—we learned that speed and smoothness are non-negotiable. Protectmaxx was built on that foundation. Transactions are evaluated in under 100ms, while our hybrid approach of machine learning, rules, and human oversight keeps false declines to a minimum. The result is fraud checks that happen invisibly, preserving high conversion rates and a seamless customer experience.
What truly sets us apart is our commercial model. We only charge based on successful approvals, not on blanket transaction volume. This means our incentives are fully aligned with our clients: we win when they win.
Q: What measurable business impact or ROI have your clients seen?
Michiel: Our clients see a clear and measurable return. On average, they achieve:
• Fraud losses reduced by up to 90%
• Chargeback ratios consistently below Visa and Mastercard thresholds
• Higher approval rates and fewer false declines, driving incremental revenue
• Operational savings by outsourcing fraud management to Alphacomm
Q: Would you say Protectmaxx enables growth beyond protection?
Michiel: Absolutely. Protectmaxx doesn’t just stop fraud—it unlocks opportunity. Merchants gain trust with PSPs and acquirers, confidence to expand internationally, and peace of mind knowing losses are covered. It’s protection, but also an enabler of bold, sustainable growth.
Q: There are big names in the space like Riskified, Forter, and Seon. What sets you apart?
Michiel: Many vendors claim broad expertise across all of e-commerce. Alphacomm is different—we were born in the digital goods space, starting with protecting telecoms as they pioneered online top-ups. That specialization gives us unmatched insight into the fraud patterns of high-risk, instantly delivered digital goods. And unlike most providers, we don’t just promise prevention—we stand behind it with a 100% chargeback guarantee.
Q: Many vendors claim to use AI/ML. What makes yours truly impactful?
Michiel: Our AI and ML models are trained on decades of digital goods data and continuously refined by human experts. Combined with adaptive rule sets and live analyst oversight, they don’t just react to fraud—they anticipate it. This isn’t generic machine learning; it’s purpose-built intelligence for the digital goods economy.
Q: Where do you see fraud heading in the next 2–3 years?
Michiel: Fraudsters will exploit instant payments, BNPL, and APMs with synthetic IDs, phishing, and APP scams. The pace of fraud innovation will only accelerate, and merchants will need equally agile protection.
Q: Are there new product innovations or markets you’re exploring with Protectmaxx?
Michiel: Yes. We’re extending Protectmaxx to cover alternative payments, e-wallets, and emerging use cases like eSIMs. Just as we built custom fraud defenses for telecoms decades ago, we’re now doing the same for the next wave of digital commerce.
Alphacomm is committed to continuous innovation, leveraging the latest technologies and industry trends. At the same time, we strive to strike the right balance between robust fraud prevention and a seamless customer experience—an essential requirement in high-volume payment environments such as APMs, BNPL, and instant payments.
''This isn’t generic machine learning; it’s purpose-built intelligence for the digital goods economy.'' - Michiel Rouppe van der Voort, CEO at Alphacomm
Q: If you had to summarize the value of Protectmaxx in one sentence to a merchant, what would it be?
Michiel: “Protectmaxx is the specialist fraud shield that protects digital goods merchants from fraud exposure, reputational damage, and regulatory pressure, offering instant prevention with a 100% chargeback guarantee and the confidence to scale without fear.”
About Michiel Rouppe van der Voort, CEO of Alphacomm
With 15+ years of experience in the telecom industry and 10+ years of expertise in payments and general management, Michiel brings a powerful mix of strategic vision and operational excellence to Alphacomm’s leadership team. He spearheads initiatives across strategic growth, operational efficiency and business diversification—driving the next phase of growth for our €200M+ digital commerce company. His guidance is instrumental as we pursue our ambitious goal toward €1000M. Michiel also focuses on expanding our core business of providing fraud protection for digital goods, the provision of top-up, and eSIM webshops, while exploring new markets for our innovative solutions. His know-how is invaluable as we continue serving major telco, travel and e-commerce clients throughout Europe.
About Alphacomm
With 25+ years of experience across telecom, banking and e-commerce Alphacomm sets the bar for making the sale of digital goods simple and safe. Its suite of scalable solutions, including white-label digital goods shops, travel eSIMs and payment fraud protection, empowers businesses to stay ahead of digital trends while protecting every single transaction. Alphacomm is uniquely positioned to help businesses drive revenue, reduce risk and deliver seamless, secure customer experiences that customers love and fraudsters hate!
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