The payments industry is moving faster than ever — and so is fraud. Real-time settlement rails, embedded payment flows and global wallet adoption have redefined how money moves, removing the safety nets of the past. Fraudsters are exploiting that speed with synthetic identities, mule networks and instant transfer scams that drain accounts in seconds. With 85% of payment providers increasing fraud budgets, the race is on to detect and stop threats before they happen.
Key Industry Trends Reshaping Payments Fraud Prevention
From instant payments to crypto, every innovation comes with a new fraud frontier. Customer expectations for seamless, real-time experiences mean providers must keep friction low while blocking attacks in milliseconds.
Key trends include:
- 62% of payment leaders rank real-time transaction monitoring as their top defense
- 76% are prioritizing AI, ML, and analytics to boost detection accuracy
- Synthetic ID fraud is the fastest-growing threat, projected to hit $23B in losses by 2030
- Digital wallets (38%) and cryptocurrency (54%) are seen as the most vulnerable channels
How Payments Differs From Other Sectors
Fraud in payments is uniquely defined by irreversibility, counterparty risk and intense regulatory oversight. Once funds move, they’re gone. Both senders and receivers must be screened in real time, often under the added pressure of sanctions screening, AML checks and cross-border compliance. And with low customer tolerance for delays, every false positive risks revenue and trust.
Read the full Payments report now to see how leading providers are staying ahead of fraud in the fastest-moving sector in finance.
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Emerging Fraud Threats in 2025
Fraudsters are scaling attacks with automation and AI — from real-time mule account creation to large-scale account takeover campaigns. As instant payment adoption grows, so does the demand for prevention technologies that operate at transaction speed.
Top 3 Takeaways for Payments Fraud Leaders
- Act in Milliseconds — In instant payments, the window to detect fraud closes before the transaction is approved.
- Unify Fraud and AML — Integrating intelligence across risk domains shortens investigations and exposes hidden threats.
- Turn Prevention into an Advantage — Balancing security with seamless customer experience builds long-term trust.
