In a significant shift for digital commerce, online merchants worldwide are rapidly adopting real-time payment methods. This move comes alongside a welcome reversal in the long-standing rise of online fraud, according to the latest global study from payments giant Visa.
Real-Time Payments Gain Unstoppable Momentum
The Visa 2025 Global eCommerce Payments & Fraud Report, which surveyed over 1,080 merchants across 38 countries, provides a clear snapshot of this trend. It finds that more than one in three merchants, or 37 per cent, now accept real-time payments (RTP). The adoption rate is accelerating quickly.
Among businesses already offering RTP, an overwhelming 80 per cent saw a noticeable increase in customer usage over the past year. Looking ahead, nearly 90 per cent anticipate further growth in 2025. The momentum is so strong that even among those not yet using RTP, 42 per cent are likely to add it within the next 12 months, cementing its status as a top growth area in global payments.
A Turning Point in the Fight Against Fraud
Despite increasing transaction volumes, the report brings encouraging news on security. The relentless multi-year climb in fraud rates has finally eased. The fraud rate by order declined from 3.4 per cent to 3.0 per cent year over year. In another positive sign, order rejection rates fell significantly from 5.8 per cent to 5.0 per cent.
However, fraud remains a nearly universal challenge, with 98 per cent of merchants experiencing at least one type of fraud in the past year. The most prevalent threats identified include:
- Refund and policy abuse (47 per cent)
- Real-time payment fraud (45 per cent)
- Phishing attacks (42 per cent)
- First-party misuse (39 per cent)
- Card testing (32 per cent)
While first-party misuse still affects a majority, its rapid growth is slowing. Only 24 per cent of merchants reported sharp spikes of 25 per cent or more, down from 31 per cent the previous year.
Merchants Bet on AI and Technology for Defence
To combat these evolving threats, businesses are investing heavily in advanced technology over simply hiring more staff. A striking 56 per cent of merchants now use generative AI tools for fraud management, a sharp rise from 42 per cent last year. Adoption is projected to reach nearly 80 per cent by the end of 2025.
Overall, 63 per cent of merchants plan to increase spending on fraud tools and technologies, compared to just 49 per cent who plan to increase staff investment. This highlights a decisive strategic shift toward automation and AI-driven risk management.
Alongside fraud control, payment optimization is a top priority. Merchants ranked revenue, authorization rate, payment success rate, fraud losses, authentication rate, and payment costs as their six key performance metrics. To improve these, six in ten merchants now employ tokenization, primarily to reduce data-breach risks and boost authorization rates.
The Visa report paints a picture of an e-commerce landscape at an inflection point, where the speed of real-time payments is being matched by smarter, technology-led security measures, offering hope for a more efficient and secure future for online business.
