Fraud loss a major concern for UK business 

READING, UK – Bottomline Technologies (NASDAQ:EPAY), a leading provider of financial technology that helps make complex business payments simple, smart and secure, today launched the third edition of its annual report ‘UK Business Payments Barometer: Payments For a New Economy’.

The report surveyed 400 financial decision makers across the UK, revealing that while the number of companies that experienced fraud had declined somewhat from the prior year, fraud remains a major concern.  Two thirds of businesses impacted by fraud recover less than half the loss.

“The impact of fraud continues to be significant,” says Ed Adshead-Grant, General Manager, Payments, Bottomline Technologies.  “Anti-fraud protection measures seem to be working, and companies are getting more intelligent about managing their operations. However, the real cost of fraud remains — with investigations expensive and full recoveries elusive.”

According to the Barometer Report, almost 15% of respondents were impacted by fraud in the past year. Forty-four percent said they are confident that their organisation had not been a victim of fraud (up 11% over last year) and a little more than 41% were unsure. These findings reflect the increasing effectiveness of anti-fraud protection measures.

The survey results showed that of those affected by fraud, most were unable to calculate how much money they lost. The most common answer (at 27%) was between £10,000 and £50,000. Nine percent lost between a quarter of a million and a million pounds, while 2% lost more than £1 million.

The report concluded that for every three companies impacted by fraud, two were unable to recover more than half of stolen funds – reflecting the true effect of fraud on a business’ bottom line.

Concern over external cyber fraud continues to be on the rise. Sixty percent of respondents cited ‘external cyber fraud’ as a concern compared to just 37% in 2016. Additionally, the concern over internal fraud is also up significantly, with a 169% increase since 2016.

The ‘UK Business Payments Barometer: Payments for a New Economy’ report is an annual fixture that monitors the health of UK businesses from a financial decision-making and risk perspective. The Barometer provides key insights into business trends and risks. Topics include the UK payments landscape, cash management and visibility, accounts efficiency and fraud prevention. The report surveys 400 financial decision makers ranging from small to medium enterprises (SMEs) employing less than 250 people up to enterprises employing over 10,000 people.