Who pays for trust? The economics of payment fraud.

Identify the loss and the responsible process.

A blocked payment, a reported scam and a reimbursed claim measure different events. Separate attempted harm, realised loss, recovery and compensation before comparing performance. A control may reduce one institution’s exposure while moving cost or delay to another participant. The receiving side matters because a payment network cannot be evaluated solely through the experience of the sending customer.

Evaluate incentives as well as detection.

Use consistent reporting periods and denominators when comparing losses. Track legitimate payments delayed, customer support effort and time to resolution alongside prevented fraud. Examine whether reimbursement and dispute processes encourage timely investigation and cooperation. The full Russian study develops hypothetical operating economics and distinguishes regional evidence from general product analysis. Its EBA–ECB data concern a defined European perimeter, while PSR reimbursement evidence concerns a particular UK framework and reporting period. Neither establishes the effectiveness of a specific vendor or product. A useful evaluation assigns each metric to the participant who records it and the customer outcome it is intended to improve.

Sources for the full study.