D2C pharma brands must ensure their cash-pay programs and telehealth ties are transparent and compliant with anti-kickback laws.

A recent study details fraud types, prevalence, and banks’ defenses.

SitusAMC—a vendor to banks including JPMorgan Chase, Citi, and Morgan Stanley—had a data breach whose scope and severity it’s still investigating. The compromised data was related to residential mortgages and may include Social Security numbers and other personally identifiable information. Even the best-prepared financial services companies need to be ready to respond to data breaches. Vague assurances before or after a breach suggest bankers aren’t paying attention to necessary details. They must be explicit and transparent about safeguards and breach remediation.

According to a PYMNTS study sponsored by Block, 42% of scam victims consider changing to a new bank, and 19% have done so. That may be nearly 10 percentage points higher than bank switching in the general population. The financial losses FIs face from compensating customers for fraud and chasing down lost funds may eclipse their loss of business from customers who have been scammed. FIs’ brand value may also fall when they fail to put in place the right protections.

Federal prosecutors have charged NBA figures Chauncey Billups, Terry Rozier, and Damon Jones with gambling and fraud conspiracies tied to organized crime, marking the sport’s biggest integrity crisis in years. The case arrives as legal sports betting reaches record scale, with 38 states now allowing wagers and revenues projected to hit $20.6 billion by 2027. Yet as gambling becomes embedded in fan engagement and media strategy, public sentiment is turning—40% of US adults now view legalized betting as bad for sports. For leagues, advertisers, and sportsbooks alike, the scandal is a stress test for an industry built on trust.

Consumers believe the use of AI makes it harder to detect scams, according to a recently published report from risk-management fintech Alloy. It also found that fraud prevention and security measures are top factors for 97% of respondents when they choose a bank. Customer trust is paramount to a financial institution’s survival, and anything that erodes that trust can prompt them to switch or avoid certain banks altogether. With AI changing the scam landscape dramatically in just a few years, banks must accordingly invest in modern technology—including their own AI tools—and customer education.

As credit card loyalty wanes, staying top-of-wallet is getting harder for issuers. Our fifth annual study dives into which emerging features will help cash-back credit card programs meet customers' growing expectations.

Charlie Javice, who founded a fintech that JPMorgan Chase acquired in 2021 for $175 million, was sentenced to seven years in prison for pitching the deal based on fraudulent records that exaggerated the size of the fintech’s customer base by several million. Fintechs can be valuable partners and shrewd acquisitions, but for banks, they may also be a siren song. A hunger for growth and a thirst for the next best thing can impair otherwise clear management judgment. Due diligence should be thorough and strategic planning measured.

As online financial crimes and fraud attempts surge, customers are wary of new brands and frequently abandon transactions over a lack of trust. Over two-thirds (69%) of US adults have abandoned an online transaction or sign-up process due to distrust, per Liquid Web’s 2025 The State of Digital Trust report. In today’s online marketplace, brands need to convince consumers not only of their product quality, but of their company’s legitimacy. Unlike industry-level reputation, which brands can’t control, CMOs can shape digital trust by focusing on transparency, clarity, and responsiveness across the shopping journey.

Early Warning Services, the company behind Zelle and Paze, submitted a five-point plan to US financial regulators to combat fraud. While a multi-sector approach could be a good idea in theory, it may also deflect from each financial player’s responsibility to secure every transaction. If FIs want customers to trust that their money is safe with them, they can’t blame their partners for fraudulent transactions that customers use their mobile banking apps to make. But clearly, the traditional siloed approach to combating fraud isn’t working against sophisticated criminal rings that operate across multiple platforms.

The news: Online scams and internet crimes cost Americans a record $16.6 billion in 2024, per Pew Research, potentially reshaping trust in digital platforms. Almost three-quarters (73%) of US adults have experienced some type of online scam, ranging from phishing attempts and online shopping scams to credit card fraud. Most adults report getting weekly scam phone calls (68%), emails (63%) or text messages (61%) that attempt to collect their personal information. The big takeaway: To attract new customers and assuage scam-related hesitations, brands need to be proactive about trust in every digital touchpoint.

The strategy: Agentic AI could redefine how banks detect and prevent financial crime, according to a recent McKinsey report. Our take: Banks are just beginning to pilot agentic AI and explore use cases, but they should prioritize using it in financial crime prevention. This technology will become essential as traditional methods struggle to keep up with increasingly sophisticated criminal tactics: Despite allocating significant resources to KYC and AML efforts, the financial industry only detects about 2% of global financial crime, per Interpol data.

The news: Last year, we covered predicted growth in specialized insurance, including cybersecurity protection, because of the rising costs of data breaches. Allianz Life’s recent incident is further proof why such protection and precautionary measures are imperative. Why this matters: As a result of this data breach, Allianz Life faces financial and reputational costs that could affect its bottom line for years. This is a powerful reminder for the entire insurance industry to strengthen its cybersecurity defenses. Preventing attacks requires a proactive and comprehensive strategy beyond simple perimeter defenses.

The finding: Up to one-third of US consumers consider lying on credit applications to be acceptable in some situations or normal behavior, potentially fueled by the rising cost of living, per FICO’s 2025 Consumer Survey. Our take: The rise of first-party fraud means FIs can no longer rely solely on self-reported data. By responsibly leveraging a broader range of data points—such as transactional history, rent/mortgage payments, and utility bill data—within compliance guidelines, banks can build a more comprehensive and accurate picture of a customer's financial health and ability to repay.

The news: 79.64% of consumers prefer going straight to their bank to resolve a dispute rather than engaging the merchant in question, per a survey by Chargebacks911. Our take: Both banks and merchants want to reserve the chargeback process for exceptional circumstances in customer care.

The news: Blackhawk Network and Visa will launch physical gift cards with tap to pay capability. Our take: Blackhawk’s rollout patches a serious security loophole that risked gifters and recipients’ money being snatched by fraudsters.

DoubleVerify sues Adalytics for alleged defamatory statements: The case underscores rising tension between ad verification firms and watchdog groups.

Leaning on non-card revenue can help the network maintain its momentum even if shaky economic conditions lead to slower consumer spending

The P2P player was able to make this pivot thanks to the success of its integration in banks’ apps, which currently lead to 98% of its transactions

It’s a major win for the P2P player as the Trump administration dismantles the agency