Fraud Is 31x More Likely on Checks Than Real-Time Payments

The August 2025 report, “Fact vs. Fiction in Real-Time Payments Fraud,” published by PYMNTS Intelligence and The Clearing House, gives rise to a striking contradiction: financial institutions are disproportionately worried about fraud risks in real-time payments, even as those same rails show the lowest fraud rates in the industry.

Fraud Concerns and Receive-Only Mode

That fear is shaping decisions at the infrastructure level. According to the report, 78% of organizations choose to start their real-time implementation in receive-only mode, a risk-avoidance strategy that limits the value of faster payments and stalls ecosystem-wide adoption.

But the data undermines the fear. Fraud is happening, but not where banks expect it.

The headline findings from the report are familiar. Real-time payments are gaining ground, but adoption is hindered by persistent myths. The RTP network and FedNow Service, the two primary real-time rails in the U.S., are designed with built-in fraud mitigation tools — yet only 22% of banks have embraced full send-and-receive functionality.

The report makes the case that security fears are less a reflection of actual threats and more a legacy mindset carried over from fraud-prone systems like checks and wires.

What’s buried beneath the top-line summary, however, is this:

• Just 2% of firms reported any fraud on RTP or FedNow. In contrast, a staggering 63% of firms reported check fraud in 2024, while ACH and wire transfers saw fraud rates of 38% and 30%, respectively.
• Only 3% of financial institutions characterized real-time fraud as “significant.” Most categorized the fraud impact as either “moderate” or “slight”—and a large portion reported no impact at all.
• Despite these numbers, 85% of U.S. payment professionals still expect fraud to rise with real-time payments. Among large institutions (50,000+ employees), that expectation climbs to 95%, with half anticipating a sharp increase.

The discrepancy isn’t just academic. It has market consequences. Institutions are over-indexing on risk and under-leveraging one of the industry’s most secure payment systems. The irony is stark: checks remain in use by 75% of firms despite being the most fraud-prone instrument.

Meanwhile, real-time systems — designed with push-only architecture, API-level security, and instant transaction visibility — are still eyed with suspicion.

Part of the problem may be optics. Fraud that does occur on real-time rails — such as authorized push payment (APP) scams — tends to make headlines, while the day-to-day security wins go unnoticed. Still, tools like Confirmation of Payee (CoP) have near-universal support (96% of banks) and have already cut fraud 60% in the U.K. market. In the U.S., however, partial adoption risks rerouting fraud to less protected institutions.

Making the Case for Real Time

Other findings in the report further reinforce the case for real-time rails. The Clearing House and the Fed continue to expand fraud defenses with tools like real-time monitoring, collaborative data exchange, and scam classification models. Banks themselves are prioritizing AI, multifactor authentication, and interbank data sharing to further reduce risk. Yet without broader adoption, those efforts risk being underutilized.

The path forward doesn’t require new tech; it requires a mindset shift. The report offers ample evidence that the real-time rails are ready. Now it’s time for institutions to catch up.