Stepping Up Against Authorized Fraud: Strengthening Trust in the Payments Process

Why should banks care about authorised fraud? While many banks will feel some sympathy if their client was impacted by fraud, unless the bank was clearly responsible, the bank would ensure that they didn’t cover the losses, and as rigorously as possible. After all, banks are businesses and losses can have a material impact on margins. They may choose to reimburse, but that will be part of their business strategy. Yet 80% of surveyed businesses reported being targeted by just one specific type of Authorized Fraud attempt, and the reality is the remaining 20% probably just don't know about it yet.

Given these attacks also typically result in higher value transactions, often measured in millions, that the banks execute the payment instruction for, then the stakes for the industry are quite high. Yet it is also surely an opportunity for a bank to differentiate themselves. A bank offering additional protection that could save the corporation a significant sum of money may well be a key differentiator between banks competing for their business.