Banking Fraud to Reach 2.2 billion Transactions by 2031, Fuelled by Growing AI-enabled Attacks

BASINGSTOKE, United Kingdom, Sept. 21, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- A new study by global tech strategists Juniper Research revealed fraudulent transactions in digital banking and money transfer will surpass 2.2 billion globally by 2031; up from 773.7 million in 2025, representing significant growth of over 180%.

The report identified growing AI-enabled attacks as changing the economics of fraud. By lowering costs of producing personalised social engineering attacks at scale, AI is making bank customers increasingly viable fraud targets. This represents an accelerating shift away from the compromising of banking infrastructure towards targeting end-user customers and authenticated payment journeys via social engineering attacks.

“Coupled with a reduced cost to commit fraud, AI enables fraudsters to create and adapt attacks faster, while instant payments reduces the window that banks have to identify suspicious behaviour. Banks must therefore combine behavioural, identity and payment intelligence prior to authorisation, rather than relying on controls after a payment has been initiated,” noted report author Shane O’Sullivan.

An extract from Banking Fraud Prevention Market 2026-2031, is now available as a free download.

Agentic AI Raising Stakes for Banking Fraud Prevention

The report highlights how generative AI enables new and more adaptive scam typologies, while emerging agentic AI allows fraudsters to coordinate multi-stage attacks and adjust tactics dynamically as victims or controls respond. This increases the potential for fraud to become more persistent, personalised, and difficult to identify.

Banks must therefore move beyond detecting suspicious transactions towards further understanding how risks are developing across the customer journey. The report recommends banks use AI to build a continuous view of customer risk; analysing how behavioural, identity and payment signals evolve together to enable intervention before fraudulent transactions are authorised.

The new market research suite offers the most comprehensive assessment of the banking fraud prevention market to date; providing market analysis and forecasts of 44,700 datapoints over a 5-year period. It includes a ‘Competitor Leaderboard’ and examination of future market opportunities.

About Juniper Research

Juniper Research is a global tech strategist firm providing consulting, research, data, and forecasting across the fintech, telecoms, identity & security, and emerging technology sectors. For over 20 years, Juniper Research has delivered actionable insights that help industry leaders navigate disruption, seize opportunities, and make confident strategic decisions. www.juniperresearch.com

Press Contact:
Sam Smith, Press Relations
sam.smith@juniperresearch.com

An infographic accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/234a8cdc-ac37-4e34-9375-666161fce57b

Global Forecast of Fraudulent Banking Transactions by 2031

The image shows an infographic by Juniper Research of the Global Forecast of Fraudulent Banking Transactions by 2031.