Case Study - dLocal

Global Payments at Scale Demand Smarter Risk Intelligence

As a leading cross-border payment platform, dLocal helps global merchants connect with consumers in emerging markets through local payment methods and seamless transaction experiences. Operating at significant scale across diverse geographies presents enormous opportunities, but also creates an attractive target for fraud seeking to exploit payment ecosystems.

For dLocal, maintaining trust extends beyond preventing financial loss. Every fraudulent transaction introduces operational costs, potential reputational damage, and friction that can negatively impact legitimate customer experiences. The company needed model fuel to bolster its ability to identify malicious activity with precision while preserving approval rates for genuine customers.

This led dLocal to deepen usage of AtData’s identity risk signals.

Building a More Robust Fraud Strategy

dLocal deployed AtData’s signal network to strengthen transaction risk assessment across both traditional card payments and alternative payment methods. By leveraging a broad set of real-time intelligence signals, dLocal was able to identify behavioral patterns often missed by conventional controls.

These signals are broadening dLocal’s fraud operation, helping the company strengthen defenses intelligently.

“Fraud prevention is often viewed through the lens of loss mitigation, but for a global payments platform, it’s equally about trust. Our merchants depend on us to help them grow in complex and dynamic markets without introducing unnecessary friction. AtData provides an additional ability to identify emerging threats with greater precision, respond confidently, and continuously refine our risk strategies at the individual merchant level. That combination of accuracy and adaptability has become increasingly important as fraud tactics evolve.”

Gonzalo Aguirre – Fraud Prevention Team Lead, Buyer Fraud Strategy – dLocal

Stopping a Large-Scale Fraud Attack in Real Time

The true value of the partnership became particularly evident during a recent attack campaign on a
dLocal merchant. dLocal’s own fraud detection framework and rule set were already in place and
actively monitoring the platform; AtData’s signals added a complementary layer of intelligence that helped the team fine-tune its response with greater speed and precision

During the incident, a dLocal merchant experienced a 15-fold increase in daily traffic, a significant deviation from normal activity levels and a clear indicator of coordinated behavior.

Using AtData’s added intel, dLocal rapidly applied targeted rules to isolate malicious transactions from legitimate customer activity. The quality of the signals proved especially important during a period when speed and accuracy were essential.

Rules utilizing AtData delivered 97% precision, allowing dLocal to confidently take action against fraudulent activity while minimizing chargebacks.

Rather than relying on broad controls that could negatively impact approval rates, dLocal was able to respond with precision. The result was a successful mitigation effort that protected the merchant and significantly reduced operational disruption.

Delivering Measurable Chargeback Reduction

Chargebacks remain one of the costliest consequences of payment fraud. Beyond direct financial losses, they create administrative burden, increase compliance scrutiny, and can strain relationships between merchants, issuers, and payment providers.

By integrating AtData into decisioning, dLocal achieved meaningful improvements in chargeback prevention. These results come from two distinct cases: the real-time attack response described above, and a separate, sustained reduction achieved with a different merchant.

Key results included:

• 20% of potential chargebacks avoided
• 44% capture rate since enabling AtData
• Improved identification of high-risk transactions before additional downstream signals
• Earlier attack recognition from invalid email recognition

A second case, with a different merchant, shows a complementary kind of result: not an avoided spike, but a sustained reduction measured over time. For a global gaming platform processing high-volume digital purchases through dLocal, existing rules were not separating fabricated identities from genuine ones at the point of entry.

By folding AtData’s risk score into the real-time decision engine, dLocal was able to flag accounts built on non-existent or high-risk email identities before approval.

Results included:

• 39% reduction in chargeback rate in the 12 months following go-live
• Identified a dominant fraud pattern using email addresses on ordinary free-mail domains that were not disposable-domain abuse or gibberish text
• Pattern that would not have been caught by a static domain blocklist or a text-based filter alone

These outcomes allow dLocal and its merchants to proactively stop fraud rather than react after losses occurred.

“The most effective fraud prevention strategies no longer rely on a single signal or static rule set. They are built on a deeper understanding of identity, behavior, and context. dLocal’s approach demonstrates what’s possible when sophisticated payment expertise is combined with high-quality identity intelligence. Together, we’ve been able to help detect coordinated attacks, reduce chargeback exposure, and create a more resilient framework for protecting both merchants and consumers in an increasingly challenging threat environment.”
Diarmuid Thoma – VP of Fraud & Data Strategy – AtData

Powering Merchant-Specific Risk Models

One of the most impactful aspects of the partnership has been AtData’s ability to support custom fraud models tailored to individual merchant environments.

Fraud patterns vary significantly across industries, regions, and payment methods. A one-size-fits-all approach often leaves gaps in protection or creates unnecessary customer friction.

dLocal builds merchant-specific strategies and AtData provides a network informed by high-risk environments to combine platform-wide protection with localized risk insights.

Protecting Revenue and Reputation

For dLocal, the benefits of fraud prevention extend beyond measurable financial savings.

Stopping fraud before it reaches merchants strengthens trust across the payment ecosystem. It reduces customer friction, protects merchant reputations, and preserves confidence in digital payment experiences.

The partnership with AtData has provided dLocal with the additional data needed to identify sophisticated attacks, respond quickly to emerging threats, and build more adaptive fraud strategies for its global merchant base.

Results at a Glance:

• 97% fraud precision during a major fraud attack
• 20% reduction in potential chargebacks
• 44% fraud capture rate since implementing AtData
• 39% chargeback rate reduction on a separate merchant, sustained over 12 months

By combining identity intelligence, advanced risk detection, and merchant-specific fraud strategies, dLocal continues to strengthen its defenses against evolving threats while delivering secure, trusted payment experiences worldwide.