Our fraud and risk experts break down the year’s biggest trends

"One-by-one fraud blocking is no longer enough given recent spikes in well-organized large-scale attacks that hide behind normal looking payments activity," says Rusi. She highlights how a proactive approach that proactively monitors payments activity using automated rules and flags when it deviates from normal patterns can help stop financial losses. 

Caroline reminds us why preparing early for Black Friday is so important: it’s never too soon to start fine-tuning your fraud and payments strategies to ensure you can handle higher volume. Update rules to make sure you understand the behavior of your trusted customers, and refresh your strategies to ensure higher approvals, less fraud, and a consistent customer experience. Visa Acceptance Solutions is here to support you with updated technology, smarter data, and strategic insights for a smooth, secure, and enjoyable peak season. 

Aasim offers his top tip for issuers: look beyond your false positive ratio. Maintaining a good ratio is important, but Aasim emphasizes that it’s important to evaluate your entire fraud strategy and make sure that your good false positive ratio isn’t coming at the expense of a smooth, enjoyable experience for your customers. 

Arif breaks down a fast-growing fraud trend: zero-dollar fraud. This global trend involves fraudsters testing a large amount of cards to see if the accounts are still active—so they can either sell them on the dark web or continue with a value-based attack. Arif emphasizes that it’s critical that issuers invest in sophisticated fraud tools to help ensure they can detect and prevent such attacks—protecting themselves and their cardholders.

One key recommendation that Jackie gives her clients is to always keep your fraud strategy up to date. Think of it like getting regular tune-ups for your car: missing one could be costly. Consistently adjusting any rules that are no longer doing their job can keep your key metrics strong and, most importantly, help you prevent fraud while letting legitimate customers through. We can help you review your current fraud rules and make adjustments to ensure they still meet your business goals.

With AI, fraudsters are getting faster and smarter. Pariso recommends fighting fire with fire: integrating AI into your fraud detection and prevention strategies. Tools like Decision Manager from Cybersource, a Visa Solution, use AI, smart data, and proactive monitoring to detect threats in real time. 

Michael recommends a layered approach to fighting fraud as it becomes more and more complicated given the ongoing advances in AI. Helping protect customers across every touchpoint—from authorization to token provisioning to authentication—is critical so that genuine transactions can continue to flow uninterrupted.

Using both rules and AI-driven insights can provide more robust protection against all different types of fraud. Thomas explains why rules are a great foundation for catching known fraud that exhibits established patterns, but that adding AI can help detect newer emerging and evolving threats that rules might miss.

Renato reminds us that staying flexible is key to fighting fraud. With recent rapid changes in AI to upcoming seasonality and trends, there are always updates you can make to keep your fraud strategies current. And remember—collaboration is key. Reach out to us to help prepare your fraud strategy for 2026 and beyond.

The pace of fraud attacks is only growing going into 2026. With the recent technological advances built on AI—which help both businesses and fraudsters alike—staying ahead is crucial. The right solutions can make the difference when you’re working to build customer trust and prevent financial losses. Team up with Visa Acceptance Solutions today to help safeguard your business tomorrow.