02/26/2025

Procurement Fraud Is on the Rise; Here’s How to Stop It

PYMNTS

Operational uncertainty remains an obvious, if persistent, challenge for middle-market firms. This would be enough to derail even the best-laid plans if it happened in a silo, but this operational uncertainty is one that fraud within the procure-to-pay (P2P) cycles of mid-market firms can significantly exacerbate — and frequently does.

The latest February data from PYMNTS Intelligence’s 2025 Certainty Project reveals that these challenges are particularly pronounced for mid-market companies operating in high-uncertainty environments, which report 87% higher customer losses due to fraud compared to their low-uncertainty counterparts.

This makes standing up an effective procurement fraud defense imperative for growth-oriented businesses.

With leaner resources than large enterprises but more complexity than small businesses, mid-market firms often navigate a precarious balance between efficiency and risk management. Their operational models often leave them caught in a gap — which, when combined with increasing regulatory pressures and evolving fraud tactics, creates an environment ripe for operational disruptions.