APP Fraud Outlook 2025

The growth in use of digital payments has been demonstrable post-COVID. Online payment systems have enabled global transactions, and increased digital skills and more seamless checkout processes through solutions such as Apple and Google Pay means there is now unparalleled convenience, allowing transactions to be completed 24/7 from virtually anywhere, and removing the need for physical visits to banks or stores. Payments are processed instantly or within minutes, creating efficiencies for both merchants and consumers.  

But online payments carry a heightened risk of fraud, with the remote nature of transactions making identity verification more challenging - in particular, there’s been a rise in authorised push payment (APP) fraud, which involves voluntarily transferring funds to a fraudster. Criminals have become master manipulators, tricking consumers into making impulse purchases or posing as genuine accounts on social media, ready to sell second-hand goods or concert tickets. A patchwork of regulatory initiatives globally reveal just how challenging it is to tackle, either through preventative or reactive measures.

In our latest Outlook Report, we explore how the world is reacting to APP fraud, with new legislation being implemented and market developments taking place in Europe and beyond, how it can be prevented, and how payments firms should prepare for increased scrutiny and expectations.

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