24% of Bank CEOs Put AI Cybersecurity First
24% of Bank CEOs Put AI Cybersecurity First
https://www.pymnts.com/cybersecurity/2026/24percent-bank-ceos-put-ai-cybersecurity-first/
Publish Date: 2026-05-13 04:01:00
Source Domain: www.pymnts.com
Embedded payments are forcing businesses to rethink fraud prevention as a design challenge, not just a cleanup job after something goes wrong.
That was the central theme of “Embedding Security: Designing Fraud Risk Out of Business Transactions,” a March PYMNTS Intelligence Business Payments Tracker Series report in collaboration with WEX.
The report found that embedded payments are becoming core infrastructure for modern business platforms, helping companies move money inside the software they already use to run operations. That can make payments faster, easier and more visible. It also changes where fraud risk lives, spreading it across platforms, APIs, third-party partners and workflows.
The optimistic takeaway is that the same embedded structure creating new risks can also give companies more places to stop fraud earlier.
Embedded finance has moved beyond the experimental stage. WEX identifies it as one of the top business payment trends shaping 2026, with transaction value projected to exceed $7 trillion, nearly three times the $2.6 trillion recorded in 2021.
For businesses, the appeal is practical. Payments can become part of everyday work instead of a separate process. Companies can gain more control over spending, improve cash-flow visibility and reduce manual steps.
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The risk is that older fraud tools were built for a slower and more centralized banking model. They often look for suspicious activity once a transaction is already in motion. In embedded payments, that may be too late.
Transactions can move through APIs and instant rails in seconds. Responsibility may be shared among banks, FinTechs, software providers and end platforms. Fraud can appear in the seams between those players, where visibility is harder to maintain.
The report pointed to several data points that show the promise and the pressure:
- Fraud attempts targeting embedded finance products are estimated to be growing two to three times faster than…
