Continuous velocity monitoring
Every transaction evaluated the moment it hits the gateway. Configurable velocity rules catch card-testing, micro-transaction rings, and volume spikes against your defined risk appetite — in real time.
Continuous monitoring
Merchant Risk Monitoring — Risk covered. Platform protected.
Velocity checks, device fingerprinting, and chargeback monitoring run continuously across every merchant on your platform. Pulse's risk team handles escalations — you only hear about what matters.
Risk pulse · live
2 high-severity activeAcme Coffee · MID 482910 · Case #4821Risk score 87
Active monitors
0Avg risk score
0High-risk merchants
0KYC freshness
0%14:02+12 riskHigh
Acme Coffee Co.
Velocity breach · $4,200/8 min
13:54ClearedLow
Northwind Bakery
OFAC re-screen
13:41+18 riskHigh
Pinnacle Smoke Shop
MCC change · 5993
13:22+4 riskMid
Ridgeline Outfitters
CB ratio · 0.42%
12:58PassLow
Capitol Diner
KYC refresh
0.0M signals processed today
0.0s avg detection
24/7 coverage
Why continuous monitoring
Risk is dynamic. Snapshots aren't enough.
Onboarding due diligence captures a single moment in time — but merchant behavior, device patterns, and chargeback ratios shift daily. Pulse gives your platform a living risk-intelligence layer that watches every merchant continuously. Pair it with fraud detection and compliance and your platform is protected from the day a merchant boards to the day they close.
The exposure
Four risks every platform can't afford to ignore.
Chargeback ratio spikes
A single high-CB merchant can drag your whole portfolio above network thresholds. Unchecked, friendly fraud and dispute surges trigger Mastercard MATCH listings that threaten your processing agreement.
Velocity and pattern fraud
Stolen credentials and card-testing rings move faster than manual reviews. Without continuous velocity checks, a bad actor can run thousands of micro-transactions before anyone notices.
Silent business-model drift
Merchants pivot into higher-risk verticals or prohibited MCCs after onboarding. By the time a periodic review catches it, the exposure is already inside your platform.
Regulatory and compliance gaps
AML, KYC, PCI DSS, and OFAC obligations fall on your platform as the PayFac sponsor. A single missed refresh or unscreened transaction can put your program at risk.
What's inside
Every layer of protection, built in.
Device fingerprinting
Cross-merchant device graph identifies bad actors who rotate cards but reuse hardware. Shared device signals surface coordinated fraud across your entire merchant portfolio.
Chargeback monitoring
Per-merchant CB ratios tracked continuously against Mastercard and Visa thresholds. Automated alerts fire before ratios breach program limits — not after a dispute bill arrives.
Dynamic risk scoring
Every merchant carries a live risk score built from hundreds of signals — MCC, volume trend, chargeback ratio, velocity anomalies, and identity. Scores update with every new data point.
Pulse risk team escalations
You only hear about what matters. Pulse's dedicated risk team reviews every high-severity alert, coordinates fraud investigations, and handles escalations end-to-end — so your engineering team stays focused on product.
AML + KYC automation
Automated Know Your Customer checks, OFAC sanctions screening, and ongoing re-verification keep your AML program current without drowning your team in manual reviews.
Immutable audit trail
Every decision, override, investigation note, and action logged immutably with full context. Examiner-ready exports satisfy sponsor bank audits and regulatory exams in seconds.
Automated case workflows
Threshold breaches auto-route to the right action — suspend an account, request documentation, flag for underwriting review, or notify your ops channel. No slipped tickets.
Portfolio-wide analytics
Concentration risk, CB trends by MCC, revenue exposure by risk tier, and platform health — all in a single view built for platform operators, not individual merchants.
API-first integration
Risk data flows into your existing stack via webhook or REST. Embed risk scores, alert feeds, and case status directly inside your platform dashboard without a context switch.
PCI DSS-aligned infrastructure
RBAC, MFA, encryption at rest and in transit, and comprehensive access logging. Architecture designed to satisfy sponsor bank security reviews out of the box.
The lifecycle
From boarding to ongoing protection.
- Step 1
Board + baseline
During merchant onboarding, Pulse captures the baseline — KYC, MCC, stated volume, and device fingerprint — before the first transaction clears.
- Step 2
Monitor + detect
Every live transaction runs through velocity rules, device graph checks, and ML models. Chargeback ratios update continuously against network thresholds.
- Step 3
Escalate + resolve
Pulse's risk team triages every high-severity alert. They coordinate investigations, request documentation, and take action — your platform only sees the outcome.
- Step 4
Analyze + strengthen
Portfolio-level analytics let you refine velocity thresholds, tighten MCC restrictions, and tune risk appetite across your whole merchant book.
Real-time surveillance
Across every payment, every gateway.
Periodic reviews don't catch financial crime in motion. Pulse ingests payment data live, runs it through configurable velocity rules and ML models, and routes actionable intelligence directly to the risk team — never to your engineering backlog. Whether your platform boards dozens or tens of thousands of merchants, monitoring scales with the book including data from AML-regulated jurisdictions.
- Velocity checks against configurable per-merchant and platform-wide limits
- Cross-merchant device fingerprint graph to surface coordinated fraud rings
- Continuous chargeback ratio tracking against Mastercard and Visa program thresholds
- ML models trained on payment-card data detecting account takeover and first-party fraud
- OFAC sanctions re-screening triggered by business-model changes or ownership updates
- SAR-ready investigation exports and examiner-friendly audit logs
Compliance coverage
AML, KYC, and PCI DSS — all under one roof.
Compliance obligations don't pause between onboarding reviews. Pulse's risk infrastructure satisfies AML, KYC, and PCI DSS demands simultaneously — with LegitScript screening, OFAC re-checks, and SAR-ready exports built in for your sponsor bank.
AMLKYC / CDDPCI DSSMastercard rulesLegitScriptOFACSAR
Who it's for
Built for platforms that can't afford surprises.
Vertical SaaS platforms
Embed payment acceptance into your product without owning the risk operations. Pulse monitors every merchant sub-account continuously and escalates only what needs your attention.
ISVs adding payments
Your platform earns interchange; Pulse protects it. Velocity checks, device fingerprinting, and chargeback monitoring run across every merchant so your engineering team stays focused on product.
Platform compliance teams
AML, KYC, and PCI DSS obligations handled by Pulse's infrastructure — with a full audit trail ready for sponsor bank reviews and regulatory exams.
Growth-stage platforms
Scale from hundreds to tens of thousands of merchants without building a risk operations team. Pulse's managed escalation model grows with your portfolio.
Related
Where this connects.
Now onboarding software partners
Turn your software into a payments business.
We sell it, board it, underwrite it, and run it. You add a revenue line to your platform without adding headcount.
Built for vertical SaaS platforms ready to monetize payments.
PCI DSS compliantSOC 2 Type II99.9% uptimeMulti-processor