Payments that pause at the right moments can protect high-risk sectors without breaking the customer journey. The question is where that pause earns its keep, writes Payment Expert Editor Rachael Kennedy
Payments in high-risk sectors have chased speed for years. One-tap top-ups and instant withdrawals are now the norm. At a recent payment fraud event in London however, people asked whether a brief pause at the right moment might be worth more than a marginally faster checkout. The case for that pause is getting stronger.
The UK lost £1.17bn to fraud in 2023. Cases rose again in 2024 even as losses held flat, with criminals leaning into highvolume, low-value attacks that exploit predictable flows. That is the reality behind glossy conversion charts. A zero-pause mindset often moves cost from the payment screen to chargebacks, investigations and reputational damage.
European data points in the same direction. The European Central Bank (ECB) and European Banking Authority’s joint work on Strong Customer Authentication found that transactions authenticated under ‘strong customer authentication’ (SCA) show lower fraud rates than those that are not. Earlier ECB analysis linked the rollout of SCA to a marked decline in card-not-present fraud. Targeted checks changed outcomes.
Authentication can work without wrecking a session. Several datasets put UK EMV 3-D Secure performance near the top of global tables. Ravelin reports around 93% overall success and 94% challenge success in the UK, with a lower share of “frictionless” flows that reflects issuer caution rather than blanket failure. That does not mean bliss for every merchant, but it does show that well-tuned challenges can clear at high rates when risk merits the extra step.
iGaming and betting feel these trade-offs most at a few pinch points. The on-ramp when a new device appears or a first topup lands. The off-ramp when balances are cashed out. The moments where bonuses are converted to withdrawable funds. These are also the moments that attract mules and synthetic identities. The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority and others have flagged a sharp rise in mule activity, with more than 225,000 people identified in 2024. That pressure shows up first at payout.
This is not an argument for clunky hurdles. Bad friction exists: repeated KYC loops and unexplained holdups drive players away and add cost. The question is whether a short, well-signposted step at defined risk moments can prevent a larger loss later. The only honest way to judge that is to look at net revenue after fraud and operations cost rather than raw approval rate.
In a market where fraud is persistent and adaptive, the metric that matters is what stays in the till once disputes and writeoffs clear.
A small, targeted pause will not solve everything but it does change incentives, and it tells would-be abusers that withdrawals and high-risk topups are guarded. It tells genuine customers that balances and identities are protected. For sectors that live with licence obligations and public scrutiny, that can be the most valuable kind of speed.
This article first appeared in SBC Leaders 38th Edition, the full version of which is available here.
