Banks have an opportunity to strengthen fraud prevention by looking more closely at payments that arrive with a valid login or a customer’s approval.

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That’s the central implication of the third key finding in “Scams Get Personal: Why Banks Pay More to Fight Fraud,” a PYMNTS Intelligence report in The Fraud Economy series. Based on a July 2026 survey of 90 executives at U.S. banks, credit unions and FinTechs, the report finds that institutions have widely adopted fraud detection tools while criminals increasingly exploit customer trust and stolen credentials.

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Scams and compromised credentials together account for 50.6% of fraud dollars, up from 27.6% two years earlier. It’s like installing stronger locks while thieves persuade someone to hand over the keys. The findings point to an opportunity to extend protection beyond verifying access to understanding the circumstances behind a payment.

Other findings suggest banks are responding to the human side of fraud. Improved customer communication leads planned investments for the coming year, cited by 78% of institutions, up from 41%. Among institutions using machine learning, 86% say it helps them catch problems proactively, compared with 25% in 2025. Those results suggest banks have useful capabilities to build on as they work to protect customers before money leaves their accounts.

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