Payment fraud in EEA touched €4.2bn in 2024, EBA-ECB report finds

Payment fraud successful the European Economic Area (EEA) reached €4.2bn ($4.9bn) successful 2024, up from €3.5bn successful 2023, according to the latest associated study by the European Banking Authority (EBA) and the European Central Bank (ECB).

The European outgo fraud trends highlighted successful the study underlines the value of beardown lawsuit authentication (SCA) and the request for ongoing vigilance against evolving threats.

The 2025 variation of the EBA-ECB study covers semi-annual information from 2022 to 2024 and confirms that the ineligible request for SCA, introduced successful 2020, has contributed to reducing wide fraud levels.

However, it besides emphasises that caller types of fraud are emerging, requiring information measures to beryllium continuously adapted.

The study assesses outgo fraud reported by the manufacture crossed the EEA, with totals of €3.4bn successful 2022, €3.5bn successful 2023, and €4.2bn successful 2024.

It analyses some the full fig of outgo transactions and the subset of fraudulent transactions, considering some worth and volume.

In summation to aggregated figures, the study provides breakdowns by outgo method, specified arsenic recognition transfers, nonstop debits, paper payments, currency withdrawals, and e-money transactions.

Country-specific information is besides included to springiness a elaborate presumption of the fraud scenery crossed the EEA.

Transactions authenticated with SCA were recovered to beryllium little susceptible to fraud, peculiarly paper payments.

However, for different outgo types, specified arsenic recognition transfers, this effect was little pronounced.

Notably, paper outgo fraud was seventeen times higher erstwhile the outgo recipient was extracurricular the EEA, wherever SCA is not legally required and often not used.

The study confirms the affirmative interaction of SCA requirements introduced nether the revised EU Payment Services Directive (PSD2) successful 2020 and the supporting method standards issued by the EBA successful practice with the ECB successful 2018.

However, it besides notes that caller types of fraud are targeting transactions with SCA exemptions oregon manipulating users to authenticate fraudulent transactions.

Furthermore, the organisation of fraud losses varied by outgo instrumentality and differed importantly crossed the EEA.

In 2024, recognition transfers accounted for €2.2bn successful losses, a 16% year-on-year increase, portion paper payments with cards issued successful the EU/EEA reached €1.329bn, a 29% increase.

For recognition transfers, outgo work users bore astir 85% of the losses, chiefly owed to scams tricking users into initiating fraudulent transactions.

The EBA and the ECB stated that they volition “continue to show and people outgo fraud information to supply a robust ground for informed argumentation decisions, and for supervisory and oversight actions connected however to combat outgo fraud.”