Veriff and A1 SolarStore: fighting fraud with a fast-growing online marketplace

About A1 SolarStore

A distribution platform with coverage across the United States, the company also has media channels helping people learn more about the benefits of solar energy and the latest developments on the market.

A1 SolarStore, which was founded in 2017, is a North American online store of solar equipment offering solar panels, inverters and energy storage for sale to homeowners and commercial customers.

The company is also expanding internationally by entering the Caribbean and European markets. As A1 SolarStore’s Business Manager, Tatiana Ivanova, explains: “We operate across both a B2C segment, with home owners and DIYers looking to buy smaller orders, and a B2B segment of contractors and small businesses fulfilling orders for work they do. And we fulfill their orders directly from the manufacturer facility, which allows us to ensure the best price, the original quality product, and so on. “This business model has proven really successful and we are operating now in the Caribbean and into Europe as well.” 

What business problem did Veriff solve for A1 SolarStore ?

A1 SolarStore is an entirely digital business, meaning all of their customers are remote, and deals in high-value transactions, with orders of solar panels and equipment sometimes totalling thousands of dollars. 

High-transaction value digital businesses present a tempting target for organised fraud gangs, who look to use tactics like chargeback fraud or shipping misdirection to get their hands of high-value goods for free. A sequence of chargeback fraud attacks caused A1 Solarstore to quickly look for a solution.

“Fraud was really hurting us,” Tatiana explained. “If our goods were cheaper we could maybe absorb these fraud losses, but they are not. We are a relatively small business and it would not take many chargebacks to put us in a really difficult situation.

“We tried to implement some in-house solutions to fix this – such as blocking multiple orders to the same address or blocking orders to addresses that didn’t match the payment detail address – but we found that too many genuine customers were getting stopped from making transactions. We might have a contractor, for example, who is ordering for houses he is working on so of course his billing address does not match the delivery address, and of course they are making multiple orders. 

“Not only was it impacting the customer experience, but it was a lot of work to manage internally. So we decided we needed a solution to help us and Veriff has been the answer to all of these problems.”

What made the difference to Valr when choosing A1 SolarStore?

The need to find a solution to the chargeback fraud problem was urgent, and so A1 SolarStore needed to find a tool that could be implemented and integrated quickly.

“Speed was absolutely critical for us,” Tatiana said. “Oftentimes when you go searching for a service the vendor wants to offer you some demo or have a video call, but I didn’t have that time. I needed something like today because tomorrow there may be another chargeback and we would have been done. 

“Veriff’s self-service solution is amazing. I could sign up in a matter of five minutes, get a 14-day free trial period, and get the solution running the very same day. It was super easy to integrate and fit into our ways of working.”

What business problem did Veriff solve for A1 SolarStore ?

A1 SolarStore is an entirely digital business, meaning all of their customers are remote, and deals in high-value transactions, with orders of solar panels and equipment sometimes totalling thousands of dollars. 

High-transaction value digital businesses present a tempting target for organised fraud gangs, who look to use tactics like chargeback fraud or shipping misdirection to get their hands of high-value goods for free. A sequence of chargeback fraud attacks caused A1 Solarstore to quickly look for a solution.

“Fraud was really hurting us,” Tatiana explained. “If our goods were cheaper we could maybe absorb these fraud losses, but they are not. We are a relatively small business and it would not take many chargebacks to put us in a really difficult situation.

“We tried to implement some in-house solutions to fix this – such as blocking multiple orders to the same address or blocking orders to addresses that didn’t match the payment detail address – but we found that too many genuine customers were getting stopped from making transactions. We might have a contractor, for example, who is ordering for houses he is working on so of course his billing address does not match the delivery address, and of course they are making multiple orders. 

“Not only was it impacting the customer experience, but it was a lot of work to manage internally. So we decided we needed a solution to help us and Veriff has been the answer to all of these problems.”

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What made the difference to Valr when choosing A1 SolarStore?

The need to find a solution to the chargeback fraud problem was urgent, and so A1 SolarStore needed to find a tool that could be implemented and integrated quickly.

“Speed was absolutely critical for us,” Tatiana said. “Oftentimes when you go searching for a service the vendor wants to offer you some demo or have a video call, but I didn’t have that time. I needed something like today because tomorrow there may be another chargeback and we would have been done. 

“Veriff’s self-service solution is amazing. I could sign up in a matter of five minutes, get a 14-day free trial period, and get the solution running the very same day. It was super easy to integrate and fit into our ways of working.”

We have not had a chargeback incident since we started using Veriff. So we have a 100% fraud prevention rate so far – and given that preventing fraud was the main driver of this relationship that is the metric that matters most.

Tatiana Ivanova Business Manager A1 SolarStore 

What was the impact of implementing Veriff?

The impact of partnering with Veriff has been felt in a number of ways for A1 SolarStore, as Tatiana explained.

“We have not had a chargeback incident since we started using Veriff,” she said. “So we have a 100% fraud prevention rate so far – and given that preventing fraud was the main driver of this relationship that is the metric that matters most.

“But we have seen some other unintended benefits too. We are able to offer a much better customer experience to our biggest customers because once they are verified there is no more KYC friction for them, they can order with no blocks on their account at all.”

About Veriff

Veriff is a global identity verification platform helping businesses build trust online. Our AI-native technology combines automation and human expertise to quickly and accurately verify users worldwide with minimal friction.

Trusted by leading companies like Blockchain, Bolt, Starship, Trustpilot, and Webull across finance, marketplaces, mobility, gaming, and other industries.

Our trust infrastructure helps businesses stay compliant, prevent fraud, protect users, and scale globally, enabling a safer, more transparent internet for everyone.