Payment fraud remains rare, representing small fractions of 1 percent of the total number and the total value of payments, according to the Federal Reserve Payments Study released today. However, the study did show fraud rates edged up between 2012 and 2015 on certain kinds of card transactions but held steady or declined from 2015 to 2016.
Surveys of depository institutions showed that from 2012 to 2015, the rate of check fraud declined marginally, while ACH fraud held steady at a minuscule 0.08 basis points. Card fraud, however, climbed by nearly three basis points to 10.8. Within the card category, ATM withdrawal fraud and debit card fraud rose slightly, while credit card fraud also rose by nearly three basis points to a rate of 13.88.
However, surveys of card networks conducted in 2015 and 2016 showed that the overall rate of card fraud edged down year-on-year from 13.55 to 13.46 basis points. Credit card fraud grew by less than 0.2 basis point, offset by a decline in debit card fraud. Consistent with other surveys, the adoption of EMV chip technology reduced in-person card fraud, while the card-not-present fraud rate rose by more than three basis points to 15.45.
