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Marqeta has published UK consumer research showing that four in ten shoppers have abandoned an online purchase because of a security check, highlighting the tension between fraud protection and checkout completion.
The study of 1,021 UK adults found that 80% felt positive about extra security steps when paying online, yet 40% had given up on a purchase because a code did not arrive or timed out.
The gap suggests consumers support added protection in principle but become frustrated when payment checks interrupt a transaction. For card issuers and payment providers, the issue is not whether security is accepted, but whether it can be applied without blocking legitimate purchases.
Shoppers were more open to targeted controls than blanket interventions. Among those surveyed, 55% favoured selective and adaptive measures such as better real-time fraud alerts, while 47% wanted easier ways to lock and freeze cards.
Disputes and trust
The research also examined how card users react when something goes wrong after a transaction. It found that 83% said a negative experience when disputing a transaction would change how they used the card.
More than half, 53%, said they would use the card less often after a poor dispute experience, while 30% said they would stop using it altogether. That makes dispute handling a commercial issue as well as a customer service one.
Almost a third of respondents, 32%, said they had raised a dispute or chargeback in the past 12 months. Among that group, 69% said the process was too long or could be improved.
Views of the process were mixed. Only 41% of those who had raised a dispute said they felt believed and supported, while 20% felt blamed or disbelieved and 23% said the final decision took too long.
The findings suggest consumers judge payment providers not only on fraud prevention but also on how quickly and fairly they resolve problems. A card that works smoothly at checkout may still lose favour if the recovery process is slow or unsympathetic.
AI in payments
The survey also looked at attitudes to artificial intelligence in payments. It found greater willingness to accept AI as a monitoring and information tool than as a system making decisions without user input.
Some 38% said they would be happy for AI to be used in some form to improve the payments experience. A larger share, 45%, said they were comfortable with AI stopping unusual transactions and warning them in real time.
Another 41% said they were happy for AI to provide instant updates on the progress of a dispute or refund. The responses suggest consumers are more receptive when AI is used to inform and alert rather than act as the final authority.
The survey also found that 36% of respondents had dealt with suspicious or fraudulent activity over the past year. That helps explain why appetite for stronger checks remains high even as tolerance for disruption at checkout weakens.
Marqeta, which provides card issuing technology and payment infrastructure, said the findings reflect a need for more tailored fraud controls. Businesses increasingly want to decide when cardholders are challenged rather than apply the same level of scrutiny to every payment.
Anthony Peculic, Interim Chief Product Officer at Marqeta, said: "Consumers are telling us they want both safety and simplicity.
"The challenge for the industry is to protect shoppers without turning legitimate payments into a frustrating process. The strongest payment journeys are the ones that feel invisible when everything is working, and highly responsive when something goes wrong. At a time when household budgets are under real pressure, every failed payment, delay or unresolved dispute matters more than ever."
Marqeta said its tools include configurable 3DS and real-time decisioning, allowing issuers and fintech groups to set rules around when a customer is challenged. The company processes nearly USD $400 billion in annual payments volume and is certified to operate in more than 40 countries.
The polling was conducted online by RWB among 1,021 UK adults. It found that shoppers broadly accept stronger payment security, but many still walk away when the process becomes too slow or unreliable.