CIBI Impact 2026 says fraudsters are connecting the dots — and financial institutions need to do the same
A fraudster may not care which bank or financial platform a victim uses. But the institutions involved in a scam often see only their own piece of the transaction. That disconnect is becoming a growing concern as fraud moves across banks, fintech companies, payment platforms and other parts of the financial system.
Industry leaders are now calling for greater sharing of fraud intelligence so institutions can spot connections that may not be obvious when information remains within individual organizations. The issue was discussed at CIBI Impact 2026, where financial and technology leaders examined how institutions can improve fraud detection as criminals adopt more sophisticated tools and tactics.
“The fraudster or the scammer can see the complete picture, but the institutions involved in this scam or fraud cannot,” said Atty. Roberto L. Figueroa, General Counsel of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). “This is the gap, therefore, that we need to close.”
One effort addressing this problem is the Fraud Intelligence Data Sharing (FIDS) Network, which brings together financial institutions and other stakeholders to share information on fraud and emerging threats.
The network has the support of organizations including BDO, RCBC, GoTyme, SB Finance and the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC).
The idea behind intelligence sharing is that one institution may see only part of a suspicious activity. Another bank, fintech or payment provider may have information that helps complete the picture.
That could make a difference in cases involving stolen identities, mule accounts or transactions linked to a larger fraud operation.
Fraud is getting harder to spot
IMAGE CREDIT: Magnific
The problem is becoming more difficult as criminals gain access to better technology.
Phishing and identity theft remain familiar threats, but fraudsters are also using deepfakes, automated tools and other technologies to make their attacks more convincing and easier to scale.
An IDfy whitepaper cited during the event said 34% of Filipinos were affected by fraud in 2025. It also estimated that digital fraud could cost corporations as much as ₱4 trillion a year.
Artificial intelligence is part of the picture.
Financial institutions are using AI to analyze transactions, automate processes and identify suspicious behavior. Criminals, meanwhile, can use the same technology to create convincing fake identities, impersonate individuals and adjust their methods more quickly.
For banks and fintech companies, that means checking whether a single transaction looks suspicious may no longer be enough.
“No institution can see an entire fraud pattern on its own,” Figueroa said. “But through trusted data, coordinated verification, timely intelligence, and sound legal safeguards, we can make the system more capable of detecting fraud early and preventing it from moving further.”
Looking beyond the transaction
Pia Arellano, President and CEO of CIBI Information Inc., said financial institutions also need to rethink how they assess identity and account activity.
An account may appear legitimate when viewed in isolation. Its history and connections to other activity could tell a different story.
Pia Arellano, President and CEO of CIBI Information Inc.
“We can no longer assume that an identity, an account, or credentials is trustworthy because it appears legitimate,” Arellano said. “The question for institutions is whether they can verify, understand, and see beyond their own line of sight.”
This becomes particularly important in a digital financial system where customers can move money between bank accounts, e-wallets, payment apps and online platforms within minutes.
A fraudulent transaction may therefore be only one step in a much larger operation.
“When trying to identify an emerging threat, a single transaction or a single interaction rarely tells the whole story,” Arellano said. “You need to understand behavior over time and see patterns across the ecosystem.”
That shift is also reflected in the technology being adopted by financial institutions.
GBG’s 2026 Fraud Survey found that 73% of financial institutions in Asia-Pacific are using behavioral analytics for fraud risk management. About 64% have adopted unified fraud platforms.
The numbers point to a broader move toward combining different types of information instead of relying on a single transaction or security check.
A bigger challenge for digital payments
At CIBI Impact 2026‘s IDfy segment — (from left) Raghuraman Chandrasekhar, IDfy Philippines; Bob Reyes, Manila Bulletin; Pia Arellano, CIBI Information Inc.; and Uttiya Mukherjee, IDfy.
The issue matters even more as digital payments continue to grow in the Philippines.
Consumers now routinely move between banks, e-wallets, digital lenders, payment apps and online merchants. That convenience has also created more opportunities for criminals to exploit weaknesses between different parts of the system.
A phishing attack, for instance, could lead to a compromised account. The money could then be transferred to a mule account and moved again through another financial institution.
Each organization may detect something unusual. But without a way to connect those pieces, the larger pattern can be difficult to see.
This is where intelligence sharing could play a bigger role in fraud prevention.
It does not mean institutions should simply exchange customer information without safeguards. Any system for sharing fraud intelligence has to address privacy, data protection, access controls and the legal basis for sharing information.
But greater coordination could help institutions identify suspicious activity sooner, particularly when the same fraud operation is moving across different parts of the financial system.
“Fraudsters do not operate within the boundaries of one bank, one fintech or one platform. They move across the ecosystem, exploiting the gaps between institutions,” Arellano said.
“If the threat is connected, then our defences need to be connected, too.”
For Philippine banks, fintechs and payment companies, that may be the bigger lesson from the growing fraud problem: securing individual systems remains important, but it may no longer be enough.
The institutions that can see more of the picture — and responsibly share what they know — may have a better chance of stopping the next scam before it spreads.
