37% of Businesses Say Instant Payments Strengthen Security

That is one of the clearest takeaways from “Instant Myths: Debunking Faster-Payments Fraud Fears,” the January 2026 Money Mobility Tracker from PYMNTS Intelligence and Ingo Payments. The report shows that fraud concerns still weigh heavily on adoption decisions, but it also argues that many businesses may be worrying most about the wrong payment rails. Checks and other legacy methods continue to carry a larger share of fraud exposure, while real-time payments are increasingly seen as secure, practical and worth the investment. The more notable change in this report is not simply that fraud fears remain high. It is that confidence in faster payments appears to be growing as businesses gain more direct experience with them.

• 37% of businesses say enhanced security is a top benefit of adopting instant payments, up from 25% a year earlier.
• Checks are 16x more likely to be lost, stolen or altered compared with electronic transfers.
• 76% of organizations expect to update their payments strategy over the next three years as digital options expand.

That mix of caution and growing confidence runs through the report. On one hand, many firms still hesitate to move faster because fraud remains a real concern. The report says 16% of businesses experienced payment fraud in the past year, while 38% avoid instant payments because they do not want to share account information and 32% cite direct fraud fears. Financial institutions are under pressure too, with many pointing to rising fraud sophistication, compliance demands and faster settlement speeds as overlapping strains.

But the report’s more interesting point is that the market may be starting to separate old assumptions from actual performance. Checks remain deeply embedded in many business workflows, especially among smaller firms, yet they also remain unusually exposed to fraud. More than half of businesses hit by fraud still use checks, according to the report. By contrast, faster payment systems are posting a stronger record than many businesses seem to assume. Only a small minority of institutions report significant fraud impact tied to faster payments, and many organizations say digital payments bring convenience, security and less manual work.

The optimistic angle in the report is that trust appears to build with use. Businesses that work more closely with real-time payments are seeing the value of continuous monitoring, transaction-level visibility and automated screening. Those tools are helping shift instant payments from something firms worry about to something they increasingly see as a security upgrade.

This is a notable change in tone from the broader market discussion, which has often treated speed itself as the main source of risk. The report suggests the larger risk may come from clinging to slower, more manual systems that leave more room for loss, theft and alteration.

The report closes with a practical message. Fraud fears are unlikely to disappear overnight, and wider adoption will still depend on stronger fraud tools, clearer governance and better operational readiness. Yet the direction of travel looks more encouraging. As businesses invest in better controls and as real-time networks continue to mature, instant payments look less like a leap of faith and more like a sensible next step. Clearer evidence is starting to win.