Despite concerns about bad actors using artificial intelligence to perpetrate fraud, there are encouraging signs that AI is helping organizations combat it.
In a survey of business and tech leaders by FIS, 78% of respondents stated that AI has improved their company’s fraud detection and risk management strategies. Nearly half indicated they plan to increase investment in AI over the next two years as a result.
More critically, many organizations are now entrusting AI with complex tasks. Approximately 56% of survey respondents noted that their companies are either scaling or fully implementing AI to support financial processes.
Firdaus Bhathena, Chief Technology Officer at FIS, described this as a sign that organizations are moving from recognizing the value of AI to embedding it in daily business operations.
The Agentic Boom
The largest financial services companies have made significant progress in incorporating AI, evident through the recent surge in agentic commerce.
Mastercard and Visa have introduced platforms that transform AI agents into autonomous shopping bots capable of searching for items and making payments with minimal customer interaction.
In another development, PayPal has integrated payments directly into Perplexity’s chat, allowing users to purchase products or services after conversing with an AI agent.
Removing the Barriers
Among these advancements, fraud remains a persistent issue. Criminals may exploit AI agents, especially as cybercriminals often possess a greater understanding of this technology.
Fraudsters have already deployed artificial intelligence and AI agents across various use cases and on a larger scale, unhampered by the regulations that limit businesses.
The FIS report highlighted key barriers to wider AI adoption. The primary concern among business leaders was the high cost of implementing and maintaining AI-powered systems. Other frequently cited challenges included a shortage of in-house expertise and potential difficulties integrating the technology with existing systems.
Until these obstacles are overcome, bad actors will likely stay one step ahead.