How Croghan Helps Protect Your Business from Payment Fraud

Payment Fraud is a Business Risk Worth Understanding

Payment fraud is not a new problem, but it keeps growing. In the 2026 AFP Payments Fraud and Control Survey, 76% of U.S. organizations reported attempted or actual payments fraud in 2025. The good news: most schemes follow predictable patterns, and a few well-chosen safeguards stop the majority of them. Here’s what business owners should know about the most common risks, and the protection layers Croghan puts around your accounts.

The fraud schemes most likely to reach your business

• ACH and wire fraud: criminals who obtain online banking credentials or account details attempt unauthorized electronic transfers. Because ACH and wire payments move quickly, they’re a favorite target, and recovering funds after the fact is difficult.

• Business email compromise: a fraudster poses as an executive, employee, or vendor using a compromised or lookalike email account, then requests a payment or a change to payment instructions. Roughly three in four organizations saw these attempts in 2025, making it one of the most common schemes in use.

• Payment redirection and invoice scams: a convincing invoice or “updated banking details” notice arrives from what looks like a familiar vendor, and the payment goes out as usual, just to the wrong account. Our article on protecting your business from invoice scams covers the warning signs.

“The schemes we see most often don’t start with sophisticated hacking. They start with an email that looks routine, like an invoice, a payment change request, or a spoofed alert impersonating a brand fraud department, and a busy person who takes it at face value. Verifying the request through a phone number you already know stops most of these cold.” — Melissa Walker, VP, Fraud Manager

The Protection Layers Croghan Offers

No single tool stops every scheme, which is why Croghan approaches fraud protection in layers. Real-time account alerts and daily monitoring through business online and mobile banking help you spot anything unusual early. Custom user access levels let you control which employees can initiate or approve payments. And for the highest-risk transaction types, ACH and wires, Croghan is adding a stronger layer of authentication.

New: RSA tokens for ACH and Wire customers

Customers who originate ACH transactions or send wires through online banking will use an RSA token to authorize those transactions. The extra step takes seconds, and it matters: even if a fraudster manages to steal an online banking password, they can’t authorize an ACH or wire transaction without the token and the PIN that goes with it. Each employee who initiates or approves ACH or wire transactions receives their own token, so codes and PINs never need to be shared.

Token implementation is rolling out to all ACH and Wire customers along with setup instructions and PINs in the coming months.

“Protecting our customers’ businesses means combining strong security technology with trusted banking relationships. RSA tokens provide our ACH and wire customers with an additional layer of protection by verifying transaction approvals through secure authentication. It’s a practical safeguard that helps reduce the risk of unauthorized payments while keeping the process simple and manageable for our customers.” — Shannon George, SVP, Commercial Banking Group Manager

Coming Soon: Positive Pay

Another protection layer is on the way. Positive Pay is a fraud prevention service that compares items presented against your account with the payments your business actually issued, and flags anything that doesn’t match for your review before it clears. It’s not yet available, and we’ll share details as the launch approaches. 

One Rule Worth Repeating

Croghan will never ask you to share your PIN, password, or token code by phone, email, or text. Any request for those credentials, no matter how official it looks, is a red flag worth reporting.

Want help reviewing the payment controls on your accounts? Contact Croghan’s business banking team.

Looking for more Business Fraud insights? Explore other fraud-related articles.