Battling Card Fraud: How Zenus Security & Compliance Protects Clients

Payment card fraud is on the rise across the globe. Losses are projected to reach $49 billion by 2030, driven by the rapid growth of online transactions and increasingly sophisticated criminal tactics. The global digital payments market is expected to exceed $19.89 trillion by 2026, creating more transactions, more data, and consequently, more opportunities for fraud. 

Card-not-present fraud has become the most common form of attack, as e-commerce volumes grow and criminals exploit weak authentication processes. At the same time, stolen card data circulates widely on underground markets, with hundreds of millions of records leaked in 2024 alone. Newer techniques are also emerging. E-skimming malware targets online merchants directly, while smishing campaigns—fraudulent text messages tricking users into sharing credentials—have compromised millions of cards. Even deepfake technology is being used to impersonate customers and bypass traditional security checks. 

These evolving threats underscore the need for robust security measures. For banks, fintech’s, and financial institutions offering card programs or virtual account services, every transaction carries both risk and responsibility. Effective solutions must combine compliance, real-time risk monitoring, and advanced fraud prevention technologies– not only to prevent direct financial losses but also to protect customer trust, maintain operational efficiency, and support long-term growth. 

The Zenus Approach: Security and Compliance by Design 

Zenus security and compliance are not add-ons; they are built into the very foundation of our fintech products. Our technology combines real-time transaction monitoring, AI-driven analytics, and multi-layered authentication to identify suspicious activity within milliseconds. This allows us to block fraudulent attempts before they impact customers or partners. 

Zenus has developed a fully integrated risk management infrastructure that goes beyond fraud detection. From onboarding to transaction monitoring, we embed anti-fraud and compliance protocols directly into the account lifecycle. Biometric verification, device fingerprinting, and document validation ensure authenticity from the start, while continuous monitoring powered by behavioral analytics adapts to emerging threats in real time. 

Our infrastructure leverages enterprise-grade tools such as NICE Actimize Essentials for continuous surveillance, TUUM’s core banking technology for scalability, and EXIGER workflows for advanced due diligence. The result is a seamless system where account screening, fraud detection, and compliance checks happen in parallel, without slowing down the customer experience.  

Why It Matters for our Partners 

For Zenus partners, the ability to issue cards or process payments securely is central to building trust. Fraud erodes that trust instantly, and recovery is costly. By partnering with Zenus, financial institutions and fintech’s benefit from a U.S.-licensed bank with Visa Principal Membership, advanced security architecture, and compliance processes designed for global scalability. This enables partners to enjoy seamless payments while they gain the confidence that fraud risks are being actively managed. 

The impact is tangible: fraud attempts against Zenus-powered accounts have declined significantly thanks to early-stage classification and dynamic, real-time monitoring. Processes that once took months for onboarding and compliance reviews are now completed in under a week, minimizing friction for partners while maintaining a robust, high-security posture. This accelerated yet secure approach ensures that partners can scale confidently without compromising protection or compliance. 

Moving Ahead 

As fraudsters become more sophisticated, financial institutions and fintech’s must move faster. Zenus is enhancing its fraud engine with advanced machine learning and behavioral analytics to refine detection, minimize false positives, and anticipate emerging threats such as synthetic identities and deepfake-enabled scams. 

With digital payments operating across every market, global security and trust are essential— and that’s precisely what Zenus delivers.