A survey commissioned by BioCatch, a fraud prevention company specialising in behavioural intelligence, has found that 58% of fraud management, anti-money laundering (AML), and compliance team leaders at UAE banks reported increasing fraud losses at their institutions.
Additionally, 62% of respondents estimated their organisation's annual fraud losses exceeded AED 18.3 million, equivalent to approximately USD 5 million.
Nearly all respondents, more specifically 95%, identified social media micro-scams as a growing detection and reporting challenge, representing a particular concern for cases involving expatriate customers without long local banking histories.
Confidence, investment, and reimbursement practices
Despite rising losses, UAE banking leaders expressed strong confidence in existing defences, with 83% rating their current fraud controls as effective or very effective, above both the regional and global average. At the same time, 77% said their organisation was actively exploring new vendors or solution enhancements, suggesting awareness of evolving threats.
Furthermore, UAE banks appear to investigate fraud incidents rapidly, with 41% of respondents reporting that their institution fully investigates fraud causes within one day, compared with a global average of 26%. On reimbursement, UAE financial institutions appear less likely to compensate customers for scam losses than their counterparts globally, with only 26% indicating their organisation reimburses more than half of scam victims.
Three-quarters of respondents ranked reputational risk from fraud as a greater concern than any direct financial impact, and 76% said their bank is either actively using a behavioural biometric solution or evaluating the possibility of incorporating one.
Commenting on the findings, Thomas Peacock, Director of Global Fraud Intelligence at BioCatch, said that while UAE banks appear ahead of counterparts in most other countries in investing in advanced authentication, machine learning, and behavioural biometrics, the widespread adoption of real-time payments has created new opportunities for fraudsters.
