Losses due to payments fraud have been growing in recent years, particularly in light of the increase in e-commerce sparked by the COVID-19 pandemic that began in late 2019. The impact has been keenly felt by U.S. companies and consumers.

The Federal Trade Commission said last year that U.S. fraud loss reports, including those related to payments, topped $10 billion for the first time in 2023. That was a 14% increase in losses over 2022.

In its report this month, Nilson put a finer point on those losses with respect to payments. Worldwide payment card fraud losses rose 1.1% in 2023, over the prior year, to $33.83 billion, the report said.

On the positive side, that increase was much smaller than the 4.7% global growth in spending at merchants and cash withdrawals from ATMs in 2023, the report noted. However, on the negative side, the U.S. has become a big target for such fraud. And that’s despite a worldwide improvement in fighting fraud, the release said.

The U.S. accounted for about a quarter of worldwide card spending, but endured about 42% of global fraud losses, Nilson said.

The amount of money lost to fraud, relative to overall card transactions, declined to 6.58¢ per $100 in 2023, compared to 6.81¢ per $100 in 2022, Nilson said. But that doesn't stop the overall loss figures from climbing.

"The industry keeps growing," Roberson said by email. "So even though fraud fighting is strong and steadily improving, secular growth in card sales keeps the dollars lost from declining."

By Lynne Marek on Jan 15, 2025
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