A survey of banking leaders on fraud risk: 2026 UAE edition

In 2026, banks in the United Arab Emirates are rapidly expanding digital services and real-time payments across a highly international customer base. Yet this growth is accompanied by rising fraud, particularly social media “micro-scams” and impersonation schemes that are harder to detect as transaction speeds increase. With less time to intervene, institutions face mounting pressure to strengthen real-time risk detection while meeting heightened expectations from the Central Bank of the UAE around fraud prevention, customer protection, and digital identity. In response, UAE institutions appear ahead of peers in most other countries in investments in advanced authentication, machine learning, and behavioral solutions, while also working to balance strong security controls with the seamless digital experiences customers expect.

BioCatch commissioned a survey of 100 leaders working on fraud and financial crime teams at UAE banks. The results offer a snapshot of how industry leaders across the UAE see the moment: where operational complexity is increasing, which threats pose the greatest risk, and how ready they feel for the regulatory, technological, and criminal shifts shaping the country’s financial ecosystem.

In these results, you’ll discover:

• Fraud increasing: A majority (66%) of respondents believe fraud attempts against their institution are increasing. This perception is more measured at the C-suite level, where only 55% of UAE respondents report an increase in fraud attempts at their organization.
• Rapid response time: More than two-fifths (41%) of UAE banking leaders say their institution fully investigates fraud causes within one day, significantly ahead of the global average (26%).
• Minimal reimbursement: UAE financial institutions appear less likely to reimburse customers for scam losses than their counterparts in neighboring markets and elsewhere in the world, with just 26% of respondents indicating their organization reimburses more than half of scam victims.
• Behavior valued: Nearly three-fourths (76%) of respondents say their bank is either actively using a behavioral solution or evaluating the possibility of incorporating one.
• Social media micro-scam risk: An overwhelmingly majority (95%) of those surveyed recognized “micro-scams” — small-value social media scams — as a growing detection and reporting challenge.
• Reputation over finances: A full three-fourths of respondents ranked the reputational risk of fraud and scams as of equal or greater concern than any financial risk.
• Confidence remains high: Despite increasing fraud attempts and losses, 83% of UAE respondents rated current controls as either effective or very effective — higher than both the regional and global averages. Meanwhile, 77% said their organization was actively exploring new vendors and/or solution enhancements.

Download the full report to see the full results and accompanying analysis from our global fraud intelligence team.