How a Major Car Rental Brand Optimized Skip-the-Counter with Microblink

The client is a major global vehicle rental provider, offering cars, SUVs, and commercial vehicles across thousands of airport and neighborhood locations. Known for its streamlined digital experiences, the company has invested heavily in mobile-first, customer-friendly innovations like its “skip the counter” feature, which allows verified renters to bypass the front desk entirely and head straight to their reserved vehicle. But with that convenience came a growing risk: card-not-present (CNP) fraud.

Business Problem

CNP fraud was becoming a persistent and costly challenge. Fraudsters were booking vehicles online using stolen credit card credentials and either never showing up or worse, walking away with a car under false pretenses. Because there was no in-person card check at the time of pickup with the skip-the-counter option, the company was left vulnerable.

These incidents not only impacted revenue and inventory, but also strained the trust built with loyal customers who valued speed and simplicity.

Solution
To mitigate the risk without compromising user experience, the client integrated BlinkCard, Microblink’s AI-powered credit card scanning solution, into its digital rental workflow. The logic was simple but powerful: require customers to scan the same physical credit card they used to make the reservation before picking up the car. If the card matched the reservation, the customer could proceed. If not, they’d be routed to a staffed counter for manual verification.

BlinkCard delivered a fast, secure, and user-friendly way to verify that a card is both present and legitimate.

Results
Following implementation, the BlinkCard feature began catching fraudulent transactions immediately and drastically reduced CNP fraud.

Ultimately, the client found value beyond just fraud reduction as well. With BlinkCard, they gained a real-time signal of risk at the point of pickup and more control over how and when to escalate verification. They also gathered crucial behavioral data to help fine-tune future user flows and strike the right balance between security and convenience.

By integrating BlinkCard, the rental provider didn’t just catch more fraud, they gained clarity on how trust, speed, and safety intersect in a digital-first customer journey.