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Global losses from payment fraud has tripled from $9.84 Billion in 2011 to $32.39 in 2020.
Payment fraud is expected to continue increasing and projected to cost $40.62 billion in 2027 – 25% higher than in 2020.
We have analysed the latest research on payment fraud and broken it down by geographic location, type, financial impact and prevention measures.
We will endeavour to keep this up to date as new data is released.2
Global Payment Fraud Statistics
of companies surveyed said they had experienced fraud in the past 2 years.
of reported frauds were committed by external perpetrators
of reported frauds were committed by internal perpetrators
Payment fraud losses have more than tripled since 2011 and are expected to exceed $40 Billion by 2027
Chart by MerchantSavvy.co.uk
Global Fraud losses incurred by payment card issuers, merchants, acquirers of card transactions from merchants, and acquirers of card transactions at ATMs on all credit, debit, and prepaid general purpose and private label payment cards worldwide.
Date: 2019
Worldwide fraud by card transaction type in 2018
Chart by MerchantSavvy.co.uk
Transactions processed via the following card types:
- Global Brands: Transactions processed via Visa, Mastercard, UnionPay, AmericanExpress, Diners, DIscover, and JCP.
- ATM: Cirrus and Plus.
- Domestic: Maestro, Elo, RuPay, Interac, Cartes Bancaires, Mir, and 82 others.
- Private label: Includes store, gasoline, airline, medical, ACH debit cards, prepaid cards, etc.
Date: 2019
The ROI of an effective fraud prevention program makes it more than worthwhile.
Companies with set fraud prevention programs reduced their fraud attack response expenses by 42% and their remedy expenses by 17% compared to companies without these measures in place.
The same research also indicated whilst nearly 60% of companies that did conduct an investigation after a fraud attack ended up in a better place (i.e. enhanced control environment, streamlined operations, fewer losses and improved employee morale), only 56% of actually conducted investigations at all.
This is why it is crucial that payment processors prioritise fraud prevention.
% of reduced cost for companies globally with established fraud prevention programs
“While fraud as a percentage of all card dollar volume declined for the second year in a row, criminals saw double-digit growth in the money they were able to steal from the system. Card fraud netted criminals $3.88 billion more in 2018 than in 2017.”
David Robertson, Publisher of The Nilson Report
How are global banks dealing with fraud?
of them are transaction monitoring the risk scores in real time
are using physical biometrics (voice, fingerprint, or facial recognition)
are using rules and machine learning for transaction monitoring
are using behavioural biometrics (studying patterns in human behavior)
Fraud prevention measures have hard time reducing financial losses overall due to the relentless growth in Ecommerce
The global value of the B2C e-commerce market size was $3.35 trillion in 2019 and is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.9% from 2020 to 2027.
B2C E-commerce Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report By Type, By Application, By Region, And Segment Forecasts, 2020 – 2027
Date: 2020
Meanwhile, worldwide, companies report an average of six fraud attempts over the course of two years.
European Payment Fraud Statistics
% of card fraud by type in the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA)
Card not present (CNP) payments, i.e. payments via the internet, post or telephone
Point of sale (POS) terminal payments
Automated teller machine (ATM) payments
European Central Bank Sixth Report on Card Fraud Date: 2020
Card fraud losses by method of compromise
Chart by MerchantSavvy.co.uk
CNP fraud continues to be the leading choice of payment fraudsters in Europe
Card not Present (CNP) fraud levels continue to rise year over year in Europe. Within the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA), in 2018 CNP fraud accounted for €1.43 billion in fraud losses – 17.7% higher than in 2017.
In contrast, ATM fraud decreased by 14.7% from 2017 to 2018 which will be largely explained by the increasing use of chip-and-pin transactions cards at ATMs.
At 0.069%, France had the highest value of fraud as a share of transactions with cards issued its own country and acquired anywhere.
€ 0 Billion
total value of fraudulent transactions conducted using cards issued within the within the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) and acquired worldwide in 2018
€ 0 Billion
of the total card fraud accounted for by card not present payments
0 %
increase in Card Not Present Fraud from 2017 - 2018
UK Payment Fraud Statistics
0 p per £100
spent on cards were lost to fraud in 2019 (This was 8.4p in 2018 and 12.4p per £100 in 2008)
£ 0 Million
Lost due to fraud on on UK-issued cards in 2019 (7.5% lower than the £671.4 lost in 2018)
£ 0 Million
in card fraud was stopped by banks and card companies in 2019 (equivalent to £6.17 in every £10 of attempted card fraud being prevented)
Fraud losses on UK-issued cards by fraud type 2010-2019
Ecommerce figures are estimates
Chart by MerchantSavvy.co.uk
As in Europe, CNP fraud dominates and accounts for 76% of fraud losses
UK Payment losses incurred via fraudulent card payments, remote banking and cheques totalled £824.8 million in 2019.
Paying with lost, stolen or counterfeit cards using a card machine is still a huge problem but fraudsters have most success with card payments made remotely (card not present) which accounted for £470.2 million of the losses.
Ecommerce card fraud grew between between 15% and 36% year on year from from 2012 to 2016. Only in 2017, when card fraud stood at £310m has the growth rate been flat for ecommerce fraud.
Date: Sept 2018
UK card fraud losses by type 2010 vs 2019
Chart by MerchantSavvy.co.uk
In 2019 more than 76% of card fraud losses were due to CNP totalling £470.2 million.
US Payment Fraud Statistics
of companies report they've been a victim of some type of fraud during digital payment
of customers report that they have been a victim of fraud during digital payment
of online sales end up being fraudulent compared to 18% in 2018.
Date: 2019
% Fraud increase in the US by retailer type (2017-2019)
Small US retailers selling digital goods have seen huge increases in fraud with rates increasing 128% annually in 2017 and 2018. This compares to 104% annually for mid/large retailers with digital goods.
Chart by MerchantSavvy.co.uk
% of US companies targeted by payment fraud (2010-2019)
Chart by MerchantSavvy.co.uk
81% of US organizations were targets of some kind of payment fraud attack in 2019, which is the second-highest percentage since 2009.
Still, only 60% of them have a fraud policy put in place.
Date: 2020
Many fraudsters took advantage of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020
The FTC’s COVID-19 and Stimulus Reports page shows 143,992 fraud reports related to COVID-19 and the federal stimulus as of July 27, 2020.
Those reports show a cumulative loss of over $93 million.
Ransomware attacks rose by 25% from the last quarter of 2019 to the first quarter of 2020.
Total cases of fraud, identify theft, and other reports in the US
Chart by MerchantSavvy.co.uk
Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book
Date: 2018
“Most of the civilized world years ago shifted to requiring computer chips in payment cards that make it far more expensive and difficult for thieves to clone and use them for fraud. One notable exception is the United States, which is still lurching toward this goal.”
Krebson Security
Asia Pacific Payment Fraud Statistics
of banks in the APAC region have agreed that the introduction of real-time payments has been a factor in increased fraud losses
of banks surveyed name social engineering as the number one fraud concern when it comes to real-time payments
of the surveyed banks in APAC thought that confluence between fraud and compliance functions would help defend transactions on real-time payment platforms
Date: 2020
Many Asia Pacific business owners express increased concern regarding fraud
However, around half of APAC businesses have implemented advanced authentication as a form of fraud prevention.
In the past 12 months, has your business experienced
more, less or the same in fraud losses?
Non-surprisingly, 67% of businesses were increasingly concerned about fraud and fraud losses in 2019.
Experian Identity and Fraud Report
Date: 2018
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