The Euro Banking Association (EBA) has publicly released its payment fraud taxonomy in an effort to address the increasing threats to the European payments system.
The taxonomy was created by the EBA’s expert group focused on payment fraud and aims to provide a clear and accessible framework for describing various fraud scenarios related to different payment methods, including card transactions.
The EBA hopes that this taxonomy will help banks establish a common terminology for payment fraud, facilitating the sharing of data and intelligence among institutions. This collaborative approach is expected to inform consumers and ultimately reduce fraud levels across Europe’s payments market.
“A common vocabulary for fraud types is an important prerequisite for sharing intelligence or data with your peers for fraud prevention and detection purposes,” said Thomas Egner, EBA Secretary General. He emphasized that the taxonomy allows payments experts to discern the details of different fraud scenarios and differentiate between the methods used by fraudsters and their tactics.
This initiative from the EBA follows the European Commission’s announcement that instant payments will be made available to all EU and EEA countries to enhance consumer convenience, improve cash flow, and compete with Visa and Mastercard. However, the industry association Payments Europe has raised concerns that the tight timelines might compromise transaction safety.
The EBA’s taxonomy is built upon existing public definitions and will initially focus on three key areas: fraud reporting, intelligence sharing, and data sharing. It will be updated annually and is accessible on the EBA website at https://www.abe-eba.eu/publications/.