AFP Finds Payments Fraud Rampant in Majority of US Organizations

Large organizations were more likely to have experienced payments fraud than were smaller ones. Eighty percent of organizations with annual revenues over $1 billion were victims of payments fraud in 2008 compared with 63 percent of organizations with annual revenues under $1 billion.

Since 2005, the Association for Financial Professionals (AFP) has examined the nature and frequency of fraudulent attacks on business-to-business payments and the industry fraud-risk tools that organizations use to control payments fraud. Continuing that research, in January 2009 AFP conducted its Payments and Fraud Control Survey to capture the payments experiences of organizations during 2008.

Thirty percent of survey respondents report that incidents of fraud increased in 2008 compared to 2007. Further, nearly forty percent of organizations experienced increased fraud activity during the second half of 2008 as economic conditions worsened in the U.S.

According to Nasreen Quibria, Director of Payments for AFP. “The fraud attacks on payment activities have occurred at a greater frequency than we’ve seen in the past. Now, the vulnerability of all payment methods—especially checks—demands a range of fraud-fighting tools and the vigilance of financial and treasury professionals responsible for protecting organizations’ assets.”

Nine out of ten organizations (91 percent) that experienced attempted or actual payments fraud in 2008 were victims of check fraud. The percentage of organizations affected by payments fraud via other payment method were: ACH debit (28 percent); consumer credit/debit cards (18 percent); corporate/commercial cards (14 percent); ACH credits (seven percent); and wire transfers (six percent).

Sixty-three percent of organizations that were victims of actual and/or attempted payments fraud in 2008 experienced no financial loss, and among organizations that did suffer a financial loss resulting from payments fraud in 2008, the typical loss was relatively small at $15,200.

Many organizations are mitigating financial loss from fraud by turning to a number of defensive measures provided by their banks, including:

• Positive pay/reverse positive pay (82 percent)
• ACH debit blocks (71 percent)
• ACH debit filters (55 percent)
• Payee positive pay (50 percent)
• “Post no checks” restriction on depository accounts (34 percent)

Organizations can also develop and/or modify internal business processes to minimize potential payments fraud risks. The processes considered important include:

• Stopping the provision of payment instructions by phone or fax (86 percent);
• Increasing the use of electronic payments for business-to-consumer and business-to-business transactions (82 percent); and
• Reducing the number of bank accounts (82 percent).

“J.P. Morgan is highly sensitive to the need for vigilance in protecting client assets from fraud,” said Iqbal M. Khan, executive director, J.P. Morgan Treasury Services. “We are pleased to sponsor the 2009 AFP Payments and Fraud Control Survey. We look forward to the data being used to foster important discussion around this issue and to seeing the financial community continue to develop anti-fraud tools that provide the critical safeguards corporates want and need.”

The survey includes responses from 629 corporate treasury and finance professionals including assistant treasurers, controllers, cash managers, analysts, and directors. To obtain a complete report of the 2009 Payments Fraud and Control Survey go to http://www.AFPonline.org/research.