The 2025 joint report by EBA and ECB shows payment fraud in Europe remained stable at 0.002%, with total losses rising to €4.2 billion in 2024. Strong authentication remains effective, but new fraud types are emerging.
The European Banking Authority (EBA) and the European Central Bank (ECB) published the 2025 edition of their joint report on payment fraud. The report covers semi-annual data from 2022 to 2024 and confirms that the legal requirement for strong customer authentication (SCA), introduced in 2020, has contributed to reducing fraud levels.
In 2024, the payment fraud rate in the European Economic Area (EEA) remained stable at approximately 0.002% of total transaction value. The total value of fraud increased to €4.2 billion in 2024 from €3.5 billion in 2023. Fraud reported by the industry was €3.4 billion in 2022, €3.5 billion in 2023, and €4.2 billion in 2024.
Transactions verified with SCA were generally less susceptible to fraud, especially for card payments. Fraud involving card payments was 17 times higher when the recipient was outside the EEA, where SCA is not legally required or often not used.
The report highlights that while SCA requirements have been beneficial, new types of fraud are emerging, particularly manipulation of payers and fraudulent authentication. Fraud losses vary by payment instrument, with €2.2 billion for credit transfers (up 16%) and €1.329 billion for card payments issued in the EU/EEA (up 29%) in 2024. Payment service users bore approximately 85% of fraud losses, mainly through scams tricking users into initiating fraudulent transactions.
The report emphasizes the importance of continued vigilance and adapting security measures to combat emerging fraud types. Data reporting is governed by PSD2 and ECB regulations, with ongoing monitoring by the EBA and ECB to inform policy and supervisory actions.
