Big companies now check who they pay before using AI to catch fraud

Large companies say their first move against payment fraud is to confirm who they are paying. AI monitoring comes after that. A PYMNTS Intelligence survey, done with Bottomline, found 81% of firms plan to adopt or improve automated vendor checks at sign-up within 12 months.

What the survey covered

The researchers surveyed 150 treasury and finance executives in the US. Their companies each make at least $100 million a year. All were responsible for, or knew about, how their firms protect payments going out to vendors and suppliers.

Verify first, then watch

After vendor sign-up checks, 75% of firms named real-time bank account verification before payment. AI that monitors transactions came third, at 73%. The order suggests companies want to know the vendor and the account are real before money moves, rather than rely on technology to spot a bad payment afterward.

A split on AI tools

Adoption is lopsided. Some 57% of firms use no AI fraud tools, and 42% use three or more. Only 1% use one or two. Firms that adopt tend to combine tools, such as real-time risk scoring, document verification and scanning messages for signs they were written by AI.

That gap may shrink. Among firms without AI fraud detection, 24% are putting it in place now. Another 9% expect to within six months, and 25% within 12 months.

The worry about false alarms

Both camps share one fear: blocking a payment that is legitimate. Among firms not using AI, 89% cite that fear, and 74% are hesitant to automate without a person signing off. Among firms already using it, the numbers are 92% and 89%.

• Cost was a hurdle for 49% of adopters.
• Older internal systems were a hurdle for 32%.
• The open question is when a machine warning should stop a payment and when a person decides.

Goods companies lag, and checks linger

Firms that sell physical goods are behind. Only 34% use three or more AI tools, compared with 44% of services firms and 57% of tech firms. Just 41% of goods firms say they stop at least 90% of fraud attempts before a loss, the lowest share of the groups compared.

Paper checks remain a problem as well. About 35% of firms have run into check fraud. And 48% say checks cause at least 10% of their outbound fraud losses. For 15%, checks account for more than a quarter. The report notes that changing how money leaves the business can matter as much as improving the technology watching it.

What to do

The same logic works for smaller businesses that pay vendors. Confirm the supplier and the bank account before sending money, and keep a person in charge of the final call when a payment is flagged.