The Bank of Greece has highlighted the urgent need for stronger safeguards against fraud in electronic transactions. Its Financial Stability Report records a 95% increase in credit transfer fraud incidents in 2025, with the majority (64%) involving the theft of credentials.
Fraud incidents and total losses fell in the first half of the year, as security systems were strengthened — including through the use of artificial intelligence.
CREDIT TRANSFERS AND FRAUD
2025 figures and change from 2024
| Metric | 2025 | Change |
|---|
| Total number of transactions | 764 million | +11% |
| Total value of transactions | €1.3tn | +5% |
| Average value per transaction | €1,670 | -6% (from €1,770) |
| Fraud incidents (number) | 9,830 | +95% (from 5,032) |
| Value of fraud | €17 million | +41% (from €12 million) |
Fraud indicators:
- 0.00129% by number: one fraud case per 77,000 transactions
- 0.00135% by value: a loss of €1 for every €74,000 in total transaction value
Breakdown by type of fraud:
- 64%: Data theft
- 36%: Payer manipulation (Authorised Push Payment - APP / social engineering)
SOURCE: Financial Stability Report – Bank of Greece, October 2026
PREPARED BY: Euro2day
The rise in fraud incidents in 2025 is closely linked to the rapid adoption of instant payments. Transactions are executed in less than 10 seconds, sharply limiting the time available to recall funds in the event of a fraudulent transfer.
By contrast, traditional payment cards have proved resilient on security: in the first half of 2026, the number of fraudulent transactions fell by 23% year on year to 154,186, while their value declined by 14% to €10.6 million.
IRIS SERVICE – DIAS PAYMENT SYSTEM
First half of 2026
| IRIS category / indicator | H1 2026 | Compared with H2 2025 |
|---|
| Total number of IRIS transactions | 79.5 million | +54% (from 51.6 million) |
| IRIS P2P (between individuals) – number | 69 million | from 43 million |
| IRIS P2P (between individuals) – value | €3.8bn | from €2.6bn |
| IRIS P2P users | 4.6 million | +8% (from 4.2 million) |
| Average transaction value: IRIS P2P | €55 | -5% (from €58) |
| Average transaction value: IRIS P2Pro (to businesses) | €75 | +2% (from €73) |
| Average transaction value: IRIS Commerce (e-commerce) | €310 | -22% (from €397) |
SOURCE: Financial Stability Report – Bank of Greece, October 2026
PREPARED BY: Euro2day
Instant payments and cards
The ratio of card fraud value to the total value of card transactions remained at 0.02%, equivalent to €1 of fraud for every €5,700 in transactions.
“The increase in fraud incidents in 2025 is mainly linked to the rise in instant credit transfer transactions and their specific characteristics,” the Bank of Greece notes, highlighting the immediate crediting of funds without a value date (valeur).
DIRECT DEBITS
Volume, value, averages and fraud levels
| Metric | 2025 | Year-on-year change |
|---|
| Number of transactions | 39 million | +11% |
| Value of transactions | €6.5bn | -3% |
| Average value per transaction | €168 | -13% (from €192) |
| Fraud incidents | 0 | No fraud |
SOURCE: Financial Stability Report – Bank of Greece, October 2026
PREPARED BY: Euro2day
According to official central bank data, 9,830 credit transfer fraud incidents were recorded in 2025, involving a total of €17 million, compared with 5,032 incidents worth €12 million in 2024.
Manipulation and credential theft
The phenomenon, it explains, is not due to technical vulnerabilities in transfer systems, but to a surge in authorised push payment (APP) fraud.
In these cases, perpetrators use psychological manipulation and deceptive messages to persuade users themselves to authorise the transfer of their money in good faith.
64% of fraud incidents involve the theft of credentials (for example, e-banking login details), while 36% involve the direct manipulation of the payer. To effectively tackle these cases, European and domestic regulations incorporate key safeguards and verification measures.
Payee verification and AI
A key tool for preventing fraud is the mandatory Verification of Payee (VoP) service, which checks the recipient’s name against the account number (IBAN) before a transaction is approved.
This additional security measure, which was not fully in force until September 2025, is being introduced to prevent funds from being misdirected, whether by mistake or fraud, to third-party accounts.
Payment service providers are also strengthening their artificial intelligence systems to monitor transactions in real time and identify unusual patterns of behaviour before an instruction is finalised.
Prevention and strong authentication
At the same time, the European Banking Authority (EBA) and credit institutions are stepping up public awareness campaigns to help people identify phishing, smishing and vishing techniques.
In card payments, remote transactions made without the physical presence of the card (Card-Not-Present – CNP) continue to account for the largest share of fraud, although their number fell by 26% in the first half of 2026 to 130,898 incidents.
PAYMENT CARDS & TRANSACTIONS
First half of 2026.
Active cards (June 2026)
| Card type | Number | Change vs December 2025 |
|---|
| Total active cards | 22.7 million | Almost unchanged |
| Debit cards | 19.2 million | -2% |
| └ Prepaid (subcategory) | 4.1 million | +40% |
| Credit cards | 3.5 million | +3% |
| └ Virtual (subcategory) | 195,000 | +9.4% |
Transaction data & averages
| Indicator | All cards | Debit | Credit |
|---|
| Total number of transactions | 1,438 million (+9%) | - | - |
| Total value of transactions | €60bn (+5%) | - | - |
| Transactions per card | 63 (from 61) | 70 (from 67) | 29 (unchanged) |
| Average transaction value per card | - | €2,883 (from €2,865) | €1,309 (from €1,317) |
| Average value per transaction | €42 (-3%) | €41 (-3%) | €46 (unchanged) |
SOURCE: Financial Stability Report – Bank of Greece, October 2026
PREPARED BY: Euro2day
This improvement is attributed to the rigorous application of Strong Customer Authentication (SCA) through biometric data and two-factor authentication (2FA) approvals.
POS, ATMs and losses
Similarly, fraud incidents at POS terminals fell to 21,180, while those at ATMs declined by 24% year on year to 2,108.
Cardholders bore 62% of the total €9.6 million in financial losses from card fraud in the first half of 2026.
Providers that accept transactions (acquirers) covered 30% of the losses, while card-issuing providers bore just 8%.
🚩 Prepaid cards
4.1 MILLION CARDS
The 40% increase is attributed to financial support payments made by public bodies.
Growth in cards and transactions
The use of electronic payment methods in Greece continues to expand rapidly, with the number of active cards reaching 22.7 million in June 2026.
Prepaid cards surged by 40% to 4.1 million, driven by the transfer of social benefits to special cards issued to beneficiaries, while virtual credit cards rose by 9.4% to 195,000.
The total value of card transactions in the first half of 2026 reached €60bn, up 5%, while the total number of transactions rose by 9% to 1.438 billion.
CARD FRAUD AND TRANSACTIONS
Number, value and change from the same half of 2025
| Metric / indicator | H1 2026 | Year-on-year change (or ratio) |
|---|
| Number of fraudulent transactions | 154,186 | -23% (from 199,742) |
| Fraud rate (by number of incidents) | 0.01% | 1 per 9,300 transactions |
| Value of fraudulent transactions | €10.618 million | -14% (from €12.279 million) |
| Fraud rate (by value) | 0.02% | €1 per €5,700 |
| Total financial losses | €9.6 million | -16% (from €11.5 million) |
Fraud by channel
- CNP (remote): 130,898 (-26%)
- POS: 21,180
- ATM: 2,108 (-24%)
Breakdown of financial losses:
- Cardholders/users: 62%
- Acquirers: 30%
- Issuers: 8%
SOURCE: Financial Stability Report – Bank of Greece, October 2026
PREPARED BY: Euro2day
Expansion of the IRIS system
The average transaction value fell to €42, a development that points to cards becoming established even for everyday purchases of very small amounts.
Greece’s IRIS instant payments infrastructure, operated by DIAS, is growing particularly strongly, offering speed, transparency and full compatibility with European standards.
In the first half of 2026, transactions through IRIS surged to 79.5 million, up 54% from the previous half-year.
P2P transactions and fees
Most transfers are between individuals (P2P), amounting to 69 million transactions worth €3.8bn, while registered users of the service rose by 8% to 4.6 million.
Transactions to businesses (P2Pro) and e-commerce (Commerce) are also expanding steadily, underlining consumers’ confidence in domestic banking infrastructure.
Finally, direct debits confirm their reputation as the most secure payment method: 39 million transactions worth €6.5bn were made in 2025, with no fraud incidents.