An Intelligence‑Led Approach to Commercial Payment Fraud Prevention

Today’s compliance and fraud teams face an evolving mix of threats every day, from account takeover (ATO) and business email compromise (BEC) to increasingly complex, AI‑driven fraud schemes. Unfortunately, traditional static controls can’t keep up.

Watch this demo to see how real‑time risk signals and adaptive responses help protect payments, customers, and your bank without adding unnecessary friction. In this session, recorded at the Association of Certified Financial Crime Specialists (ACFCS) 2026 Fincrime Skills Summit, Bottomline’s fraud leaders walk through:

• How intelligence‑led fraud management works in real-world situations
• Live risk signals used to detect suspicious payment activity
• Adaptive responses that stop fraud while preserving the customer experience
• Real‑world fraud scenarios, including ATO threats
• How compliance and fraud teams can take actionable insights back to their desks

If you work with risk and fraud daily, this demo will give you actionable insights and a clearer view of what modern protection looks like.

Want to take the next step? Connect with a Bottomline fraud expert to explore how these capabilities can support your bank.
 

On-Demand Webinar Transcript

Moderator: This session is Modern Fraud, Modern Defense: a live, intelligence-led demonstration focused on risk signals and response.

We all work in compliance in some capacity and deal with risk and fraud on a daily basis. Throughout this event, we’ve discussed a range of topics, including artificial intelligence. Today, we’ll also address account takeover (ATO), business email compromise (BEC), and other threats that shape the modern fraud landscape.

Please note the resources section includes links from our sponsors, including a brief Risk IQ survey. With that, I’ll hand it over to Eric for introductions.

Introductions

Eric Choltus: Hello, everyone. I’m Eric Choltus, and I’m excited to be here today with my colleague Albert, who will introduce himself shortly.I lead product management for Bottomline’s global payment fraud solutions and have been with the company for nearly eight years, focused entirely on fraud. It’s a fast-paced and constantly evolving space—challenging, but incredibly rewarding. Albert?

Albert Laino: Thank you, Eric. Hello, everyone. My name is Albert Laino. I’m a CFCS member and a Senior Solution Consultant on our Fraud and Financial Crime team, based in the Phoenix metro area. I’m very happy to be here with you today.

Audience Poll: Payment Fraud Concerns

Moderator: We’re going to start with a quick poll for the audience.

What worries you most when it comes to payment fraud?

• Account takeover (ATO)
• Business email compromise (BEC)
• Real-time and faster payments
• Regulatory changes
• AI-generated attacks
• AI-based fraud detection

Please submit your response. If there’s something we didn’t list, feel free to add it in the chat.

Poll Results:

• AI-generated attacks – 30%
• Real-time/faster payments – 27%
• Business email compromise (BEC)
• Account takeover (ATO)

Moderator: Eric, does this align with what you’re seeing in the market?

The Fraud Landscape Today

Eric Choltus: It absolutely does. These results closely match what we’re seeing across the industry. The top concerns reflect two major trends: increased attack sophistication and expanded attack surfaces. AI-generated attacks now include highly convincing phishing emails, deepfake audio, and even deepfake video. We’re also seeing a sharp increase in social engineering fraud, where fraudsters obtain credentials either through dark web sources or by tricking users into providing them directly. These techniques often lead to account takeover, particularly in commercial banking. Another trend worth noting is payee verification. In Europe and other regions, regulation is driving adoption. In the U.S., banks are increasingly implementing payee verification voluntarily due to rising fraud levels.

Albert, I’ll turn it over to you.

Technology, AI, and an Inflection Point

Albert Laino: Thanks, Eric. Fraud is at a significant inflection point. AI and automation are empowering fraudsters to act faster and more convincingly than ever. Compliance teams have historically moved cautiously, but today’s threat environment requires faster adoption of advanced technology.

Key themes include:

• Doing more with less: Compliance budgets shrink while expectations grow, making technology essential.
• Improved alert quality: AI-driven tools help prioritize high-risk alerts and reduce false positives.
• Faster payments: Real-time payments increase convenience but significantly reduce time to respond to fraud.

Audience Question: Attack Surfaces

Moderator: We received a question asking what is meant by “increased attack surfaces.”

Eric Choltus: Attack surfaces are all the channels or points fraudsters can exploit. For example, remote desktop protocol (RDP) allows fraudsters to access a legitimate user’s desktop, making their actions appear valid. Faster payments are another example—once funds are sent, recovery is difficult.

Account Takeover Scenario

Eric Choltus: A common scenario involves an accounts payable employee logging into digital banking. They unknowingly land on a phishing site that mimics their bank’s login page. After entering credentials and interacting with a fake support chat, fraudsters use those credentials to log into the real banking system—often bypassing MFA through social engineering. Once inside, fraudsters may slowly change beneficiary details and move funds to fraudulent accounts. This is a classic account takeover scenario.

Poll: Detecting ATO

Moderator: Which signals are most effective for detecting ATO?

• User IP address
• Device fingerprint
• User session activity
• Behavioral biometrics
• Payment history (source account)
• Payment history (destination account)

Poll Results:

• User IP address – 66%
• Payment history from the source account
• User session activity

Eric Choltus: There’s no single silver bullet. Each signal is valuable, but fraud detection is most effective when multiple signals are combined.

Proactive Fraud Detection

Albert Laino: Looking at transactions in isolation is no longer sufficient. Fraud detection must combine login activity, session behavior, and transaction data. By establishing normative behavior—what’s typical for a user—we can identify anomalies and generate higher-quality alerts that warrant investigation. We also integrate third-party analytics, real-time data ingestion, and composite risk scoring tailored to a bank’s risk appetite.

Upstream Monitoring

Eric Choltus: Historically, authentication and payments were monitored separately. That approach no longer works. Upstream monitoring combines authentication events, session behavior, and transactions to detect fraud earlier—reducing cost, complexity, and risk.

Closing Thoughts

Eric Choltus: Looking ahead, intelligence augmentation and model forecasting will be critical. Banks need unified platforms and the ability to simulate model changes safely.

Albert Laino: AI will be embedded everywhere. The key is choosing where it delivers the most value—whether in detection, investigation, or investigator experience.

Conclusion

Moderator: Thank you to Eric and Albert for a fantastic session, and thank you to Bottomline.

Please be sure to check out the resources provided, including the Risk IQ survey for a personalized fraud risk assessment.

That concludes today’s session. Thank you, and enjoy the rest of your day.