Greece Outperforms EU Average in Secure Payment Transactions

Greece recorded better-than-average performance compared with the European Union in 2024 in both the number and value of fraudulent transactions across most payment methods, according to data from the European Central Bank (ECB) and the European Banking Authority (EBA).

The findings show that Greece continues to rank positively in secure transactions involving credit transfers, direct debits, payment cards and cash withdrawals. The only category where Greece exceeded the EU average fraud rate was electronic money, such as prepaid cards. However, the total value of such fraudulent transactions in Greece remained limited, amounting to just €265,648 out of a total €101.94 million recorded across the EU.

According to sources from the Hellenic Bank Association, Greece continues to distinguish itself for the security of transactions across all payment instruments.

In credit transfers, fraud rates in Greece stood at 0.001%, equal to the EU average. The total value of fraudulent credit transfers in Greece reached €12.17 million, compared with €2.52 billion across the EU. Greece recorded 5,032 fraudulent transactions, representing 0.001% of the total, compared with more than 1.16 million cases or 0.002% across the EU. Slovenia recorded the highest fraud rate by value, while Lithuania ranked highest in terms of transaction volume.

In direct debits, Greece recorded zero fraudulent transactions, compared with a fraud rate of 0.001% across the EU, where losses reached €112.1 million. Thirteen EU countries reported zero fraud in this category, including Greece. France recorded the highest number of fraudulent transactions, while Germany topped losses by value.

Payment card fraud in Greece stood at 0.017%, nearly half the EU average of 0.033%. Fraudulent card transactions in Greece amounted to €11.33 million, compared with €1.29 billion across the EU. In terms of volume, Greece recorded 211,974 fraudulent transactions, or 0.009%, compared with more than 17 million cases, or 0.015%, across the EU. France recorded the highest levels in both transaction volume and value.

In cash withdrawals, Greece again performed well, with a fraud rate of 0.003%, one-third of the EU average of 0.010%. Fraud losses in Greece totalled €1.13 million, compared with €135.74 million across the EU. Denmark recorded the highest fraud rate by value, followed by France, which also ranked highest in transaction volume.

Electronic money transactions were the only area where Greece exceeded the EU average fraud rate, at 0.055% compared with 0.018% across the EU. The number of fraudulent transactions in Greece reached 8,509, or 0.028%, compared with nearly one million cases across the EU. Despite this, Greece’s total fraud losses in this category remained relatively low. Luxembourg recorded the highest fraud losses by value in electronic money transactions.

The report notes that total payment fraud losses across the European Economic Area rose to €4.2 billion in 2024, up from €3.5 billion in 2023 and €3.4 billion in 2022. Despite the increase in absolute losses, the overall fraud rate remained stable at approximately 0.02% of total transaction value.

Covering the period from 2022 to 2024, the report confirms that the introduction of Strong Customer Authentication (SCA) in 2020 has played a key role in reducing fraud levels across the EU.