When Trust Becomes the Target: Navigating the Commercial Payments Fraud Landscape

Sponsored by Bottomline
Thursday 27th November 2025
City Social, Tower 42, 25 Old Broad St, City of London, London EC2N 1HQ

For decades, commercial payments operated within a framework of established trust—longstanding vendor relationships, predictable cycles, and layered approvals created a perceived safety net that differentiated business banking from retail fraud risks. That confidence is rapidly eroding.

Today's fraudsters are systematically exploiting corporate data to impersonate vendors, manipulate payment instructions, and replicate executive communication with unprecedented sophistication. PwC's Commercial Banking Fraud Survey 2025 reveals banks reporting five-fold increases in corporate client attacks, with business email compromise and impersonation scams now dominating the threat landscape.

Unlike retail banking, where evolving reimbursement regimes offer consumer protection, commercial clients remain largely exposed—fraud losses typically land directly on corporate balance sheets. Meanwhile, the "catch and release" phenomenon sees 70 per cent of fraud alerts initially overridden by corporate clients, highlighting critical gaps between detection capabilities and client response.

As AI-powered threats including deepfakes and voice cloning emerge, the stakes continue to escalate. This roundtable will explore how financial institutions can evolve their commercial fraud strategies, rebuild client trust, and address the fundamental liability disparities that leave businesses vulnerable in an increasingly sophisticated threat environment.

Topics for discussion:

• The override problem: With corporate clients overriding up to 70 per cent of fraud alerts, what strategies have proven most effective in changing this "catch and release" behavior?

• Liability landscape: Given that commercial clients bear fraud losses while retail consumers gain stronger protections, how should the industry address this growing disparity?

• Mandatory reimbursement: How has the introduction of the PSR’s mandatory reimbursement scheme affected your approach to fraud prevention, client communication, and operational processes ?

• AI-powered threats: As deepfakes and voice cloning enable more convincing executive impersonation, what detection and prevention capabilities are you prioritising for the next 12-18 months?

Timings for the evening:

18:30 – 19:00         Welcome and refreshments
19:00 – 20:00         Introduction to fellow guests and roundtable discussion
20:00 onwards      Complimentary three-course dinner

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