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New Report – The Future of US Digital Payments 2025: ACH & BeyondFinextra PromotedNew Report – The Future of US Digital Payments 2025: ACH & Beyond

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Expert opinions

Roy Prayikulam

Roy Prayikulam SVP Risk & Fraud Division at INFORM GmbH

Cross-Border Fraud: How AI and International Cooperation Are Combating Financial Crime

The globalization of the financial world has not only brought markets closer together but also created new opportunities for criminals. Cross-border fraud is rapidly evolving into the greatest threat to the integrity of the global financial system. According to the INTERPOL Global Financial Fraud Assessment (March 2024), fraud has reached epidemi...

/ai /crime Artificial Intelligence and Financial Services

Alexander Boehm

Alexander Boehm Chief Executive Officer at PayRate42

Neobanks, Pay Attention: Illegal Gambling Payments Could Sink You

The neobank revolution promised speed, simplicity, and freedom — but it also brought new responsibilities. When it comes to illegal gambling transactions, the stakes couldn’t be higher. Regulators Are Watching — Closely Across Europe, gambling is strictly controlled. Payments to unlicensed operators aren't just risky — they’re illegal. Regulators e...

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Dmitriy Wolkenstein

Dmitriy Wolkenstein CEO at TIMVERO

Fraud Prevention in Digital Lending: AI vs. Cybercriminals

Digital lenders must scale trust as fast as fraud is scaling. The platforms that survive will design adaptive, ethical, and AI-enhanced security—not as friction, but as fluid, invisible strength. ‍ Fraud Prevention in Digital Lending: AI vs. Cybercriminals ‍ In 2024, 42.5% of all fraud attempts in the financial services sector were AI-generated, a...

/ai /crime Artificial Intelligence and Financial Services

Paul Weathersby

Paul Weathersby Chief Product Officer, Identity & Fraud at Experian

AI-driven synthetic fraud a growing threat to UK financial institutions

We recently shared some insights highlighting a critical issue for the financial services industry: as UK consumers increasingly rely on digital platforms, synthetic fraud is on the rise. Our latest data has shown a staggering 60% increase in synthetic identity fraud cases in 2024 compared to the previous year, with these cases now constituting ne...

/identity /crime

Nick Green

Nick Green Director at Purple Patch Broking Ltd

The future of credit data: Will AI reduce bureau dependency?

Lenders have traditionally turned to credit bureau data to assess affordability and risk—but that reliance is starting to change. AI-powered models are now delivering real-time, predictive insights that offer far more than static bureau scores. And with alternative data sources gaining traction, credit providers are under pressure to reassess how ...

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Research

Survey

Navigating the Nordic financial landscape: 2025 challenges and priorities

As the Nordic financial sector faces new hurdles and opportunities, a variety of issues are front and centre for financial institutions, technology providers, and fintechs.  Our latest survey of 150 responses reveals how Nordic institutions across Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden are navigating the current landscape and their strategic priorities for 2025. Providing valuable insights into areas such as the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA), Verification of Payee (VoP), AI’s growing role in financial services, perspectives on central bank digital currency (CBDC) and stablecoin, and evolving payment trends such as Account-to-Account (A2A) and instant payments.  Analysis of our survey responses provides a comprehensive overview on how Nordic institutions are navigating transformation shaped by innovation, regulation, and evolving customer expectations, with progress and priorities varying by country.  We explore regional specific views towards:  Key priorities for 2025  Readiness for Verification of Payee (VoP)  Strategic AI integration for real impact  The rise of A2A, instant, and mobile payments  Attitudes towards central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) and stablecoin  The impact of DORA 

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Future of Report

The Future of US Digital Payments 2025: ACH & Beyond

A special edition for Nacha's Smarter Faster Payments 2025.    The US digital payments landscape stands at a transformative crossroads. With the launch of RTP in 2016 and FedNow in 2023, the foundational infrastructure for instant payments is finally in place - poised to revolutionise the speed, efficiency, and security of transactions across the economy.    Yet despite these advancements, the path to widespread adoption remains complex and cautious. Entrenched systems like ACH and Wire, with their deep integration and long-standing reliability, continue to dominate due to their established utility and the significant investment required to pivot toward newer rails.    It’s not just a question of technological readiness, but of mindset, cost, and strategy. The advantages of instant payments—real-time access to funds, reduced credit risk, and improved liquidity—are clear. However, to truly unlock these benefits, banks and institutions must overcome the inertia of legacy systems and embrace modernisation, often with the support of flexible, cloud-native solutions that can de-risk and streamline the transition.    This Finextra report, in association with Form 3, explores industry sentiment on the future of US digital payments and showcases the views of BNY, Citizens, Green Dot, J.P. Morgan, U.S. Bank, and the US Faster Payments Council. It explores:    Evolving ACH infrastructure;  Enhancing RPT and FedNow capabilities;  How new rails interact with existing rails;  Redefining transactional architecture through emerging technologies;  Recognising risk as a strategic advantage in fraud prevention;  Prioritising innovation and compliance at the same time. 

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Event Report

The US Instant Payments Landscape: Navigating Growth and Challenges

The increasing demand for instant payment solutions is a key trend driving the adoption of faster payments. This webinar report explores what is holding instant payments back in the US.  In the US, real-time payments (RTP) have grown significantly since The Clearing House introduced them in 2017. Currently, the RTP network covers approximately 70% of customer accounts in the US, with transaction volumes and values rising dramatically. The Federal Reserve’s FedNow service, launched in mid-2023, has also contributed to this growth, processing a substantial number of payments in its initial quarters. These networks provide low-cost, efficient payment solutions that are gaining popularity for both consumer and business transactions.  Despite this progress, challenges remain in the adoption of faster payments. Interoperability between different payment systems and networks is a primary issue. While domestic instant payments are becoming more common, cross-border instant payments face obstacles due to the complexity of multi-currency transactions and varying regulations across countries. Additionally, the regulatory environment in the US does not mandate the adoption of faster payments, which can slow down the pace of implementation compared to other markets with regulatory mandates.  This report highlights the key takeaways of a Finextra webinar, hosted for the PREDICT 2025 campaign, by a panel of industry experts. It aims to answer:  What is holding Faster Payments back in the US and how much progress can be attributed to open banking and the ISO 20022 standard? Which applications of Faster Payments in the UK are transferrable to the US? With RtP and FedNow, how much choice is too much choice? What evidence is there that the financial services industry is at a tipping point and technology must be leveraged to ramp up adoption?

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FinextraTV

Can Financial Institutions Keep Up with the $33 Billion Fraud Surge?

Reflecting on insights from last month’s Visa Payments Forum, Tareq Muhmood, SVP, Value Added Services, Europe, Visa, addresses the dramatic rise in global fraud—from $800 million in the early '90s to $33 billion in 2023. As financial institutions grapple with the increasing complexity of fraud in the digital age, the need for adopting advanced technologies like AI and real-time data analysis becomes clear. With a 50% boost in fraud detection through artificial intelligence, this interview underscores the urgency for banks and fintechs to evolve their security strategies. As fraud tactics continue to evolve, partnerships and continuous innovation are now critical for staying ahead of threats while maintaining seamless payment experiences.

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Long reads

Madhvi Sonia

Madhvi Sonia Head of Content at Finextra

Global fraud challenges and strategies to combat them

Nacha event Smarter Faster Payments in New Orleans set aside an hour to discuss the importance of collaboration among financial institutions and regulators, the role of data sharing in improving fraud detection, and the need for robust fraud controls. This global panel highlighted South Africa’s fraud journey, that has focused on prevention, detec...

Pallavi Kapale

Pallavi Kapale Senior Financial Crime Officer (2LOD) at Bank of China

Love, lies, and laundering: Unmasking the ‘pig butchering scam’ and how banks can fight back

According to the Council of Foreign Relations, numerous criminal organisations, primarily originating from China, have established sophisticated cyber centers in Southeast Asia that are specifically dedicated to conduct fraudulent activities. These call centers carry out a form of fraud known as ‘pig butchering’, combination of romance and invest...

Hamish Monk

Hamish Monk Senior Reporter at Finextra

What is APP reimbursement?

In October 2024, the Authorised Push Payment (APP) victim reimbursement scheme came into effect, under rules from the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR). The scheme means that Payment service providers (PSPs) are obliged to reimburse victims of APP fraud, up to £85,000 – and PSR asks that the value of reimbursement be split 50/50 between the sending...