What Is Payment Fraud Costing Your Business?
Most businesses do not know their true exposure to payment fraud until it happens. Use these industry benchmarks to estimate your risk and make the case for automated verification.
The hidden cost of payment fraud
When a fraudulent payment goes through, the direct loss is only the beginning. The true cost includes layers of damage that most businesses do not account for until they are in the middle of an incident.
Direct financial loss. The payment itself. Once money leaves your account through a payment redirection scam, recovery is near impossible. ASIC data shows that 96% of scam losses are borne by the customer, and banks reimburse between 2% and 5% of total losses.
Recovery costs. Forensic investigation, legal counsel, reporting to authorities, dealing with your bank's fraud team, and attempting to trace and recover funds. These costs add up quickly, even when recovery fails.
Staff time and disruption. A single fraud incident can consume weeks of management and finance team time. Internal investigations, process reviews, re-verification of all vendor records, and reporting obligations take staff away from their actual work.
Insurance impact. A fraud claim can increase your premiums, tighten your policy terms, or trigger exclusions. Some insurers now require documented verification controls before they will cover payment fraud losses at all.
Reputational damage. If a fraud incident affects your suppliers (because they did not get paid) or your clients (because their data was involved), the relationship cost is real. Trust is hard to rebuild.
How to estimate your exposure
Industry benchmarks suggest that 0.1% to 0.5% of total payment volume is at risk of fraud. Use your annual payment volume to estimate your exposure.
| Annual payment volume | Low estimate (0.1%) | Mid estimate (0.3%) | High estimate (0.5%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| $5 million | $5,000 | $15,000 | $25,000 |
| $10 million | $10,000 | $30,000 | $50,000 |
| $50 million | $50,000 | $150,000 | $250,000 |
| $100 million | $100,000 | $300,000 | $500,000 |
These estimates reflect the potential value at risk, not guaranteed losses. Actual losses depend on your industry, payment processes, and existing controls. The point is simple: even a conservative estimate shows meaningful exposure.
Beyond the direct loss: the cost of manual verification
Even if you are verifying payments manually, that process has a real cost. Research shows manual verification takes 15 to 30 minutes per new payee. Here is what that looks like at scale.
Small team
10 new payees/month
2.5 to 5 hours
per month in staff time
$1,500 to $3,000
estimated annual cost
Growing business
50 new payees/month
12.5 to 25 hours
per month in staff time
$7,500 to $15,000
estimated annual cost
Mid-market
200 new payees/month
50 to 100 hours
per month in staff time
$30,000 to $60,000
estimated annual cost
Enterprise
500+ new payees/month
125 to 250 hours
per month in staff time
$75,000 to $150,000
estimated annual cost
Based on 15 to 30 minutes per new payee at an average loaded cost of $60/hour for finance staff. These figures do not include time spent on re-verification, change management, or investigating anomalies.
The cost of not verifying
Some businesses skip verification entirely, relying on trust, familiarity, or the assumption that it will not happen to them. The data says otherwise.
$152.6M
Payment redirection losses in 2024
Up 66% year-on-year. Source: Scamwatch/NASC
96%
Of scam losses borne by the victim
Banks reimburse just 2% to 5%. Source: ASIC
$55K
Average loss per BEC incident
Per business. Source: ASD FY2023-24
The maths is straightforward. A single business email compromise incident at the average loss of $55,000 would pay for over 46 years of ezyshield's Founder plan, over 13 years of the Growth plan, or over 6 years of the Business plan.
For more detail on the scale of payment fraud in Australia, see our payment fraud statistics page.
Cost comparison: ezyshield vs fraud exposure
Compare the annual cost of ezyshield against estimated fraud exposure at different payment volumes. The ROI becomes obvious quickly.
| Payment volume | Est. annual exposure (0.3%) | ezyshield annual cost | Protection ratio |
|---|---|---|---|
| $5M | $15,000 | Founder: $1,188/yr | 12.6x |
| $10M | $30,000 | Growth: $4,188/yr | 7.2x |
| $50M | $150,000 | Business: $8,988/yr | 16.7x |
| $100M+ | $300,000+ | Enterprise: Custom | Custom |
Protection ratio shows the estimated fraud exposure divided by the cost of ezyshield. A ratio of 12.6x means every dollar spent on verification protects $12.60 in potential exposure. Actual plans should be matched to your payee count and payment volume. See pricing for details.
One incident pays for years of protection
Payment fraud is not a matter of probability. It is a matter of timing. The businesses that recover fastest are the ones that had controls in place before the incident.
One prevented $55K BEC incident covers 46+ years of Founder plan costs
Staff time saved on manual verification often exceeds the subscription cost alone
Documented verification controls strengthen your position with insurers and auditors
96% of fraud losses are irrecoverable. Prevention is the only reliable strategy
Frequently asked questions
How do I calculate the ROI of payment verification?
How do I justify the cost of payment verification to leadership?
Does payment verification affect our insurance premiums?
What if we have never been a victim of payment fraud?
How does ezyshield pricing scale with our payment volume?
Related content
Pricing
See ezyshield plans, features, and what is included at every tier.
STATISTICSPayment Fraud Statistics
The latest Australian payment fraud data from official sources.
COMPARISONManual vs Automated Verification
Side-by-side comparison of manual and automated payment verification.
PRODUCTHow It Works
See how ezyshield verifies people, businesses, and bank accounts.
Ready to calculate your real risk?
Book a demo and we will walk through a personalised risk assessment based on your payment volume, industry, and current processes.