Payment fraud ‘alarming’

AusPayNet’s Australian Payment Fraud Report 2024 shows banks are, for now, once more losing the battles against payment card fraud and scammers.

For the first time since 2017, offshore Card-Not-Present (CNP) fraud overtook domestic CNP fraud, with losses in this category increasing by 51 per cent to $362 million. 

Other key findings in the report include:

?    The overall payment card fraud rate is up 22 per cent (70.2 cents per $1000) in calendar year 2023 - the highest rate recorded since 2018, AusPayNet said.

?    Total fraud value increased 32 per cent to $762 million. This increase outpaced the growth in the total value of card transactions, which rose by 8 per cent to $1.1 trillion.

?    Card-Not-Present (CNP) fraud accounted for 90 per cent of all card fraud in Australia in 2023.

?    CNP fraud grew by 33 per cent to $688 million, on total CNP spending of $320 billion, up 24 per cent on the previous year.

?    The offshore CNP fraud rate was $10.93 per $1000 spent, over 10 times higher than the domestic rate of $1.06 per $1000 spent (down from $1.11 in 2022).

?    Lost/stolen card fraud was up by 24% to $52 milion, returning to pre-pandemic levels.

“The nexus between fraud, scams, and cybercrime is challenging” Andy White, CEO of  AusPayNet said.

The marked increase in CNP fraud losses was primarily driven by a significant rise in CNP fraud on Australian cards used at overseas merchants, the report shows. 

Fraud losses in this category increased 51 per cent in 2023 to $362 million, surpassing the 23 per cent spending growth in this category over the same period  ($33 billion). 

Put another way, 53 per cent of CNP fraud in 2023 was perpetrated on 10 per cent of  the CNP spend, “at an alarming fraud rate of $10.93 per $1,000 spent.” 

In contrast, CNP fraud on Australian cards used at Australian merchants increased 17.5 per cent in 2023 to $325 million, at a lower rate than the spending growth rate of 24 per cent to $307 billion.

Rhis resulted in a 5 per cent decrease in the fraud rate for domestic CNP fraud.