ACI Worldwide and Kinexys by J.P. Morgan Unite to Combat Real-Time Payments Fraud

On April 24, 2026, ACI Worldwide (NASDAQ: ACIW) and Kinexys by J.P. Morgan revealed a groundbreaking collaboration aimed at mitigating the rising threat of fraud in global real-time payments. This partnership integrates Kinexys Liink’s Confirm application into ACI Worldwide’s Fraud and Financial Crime solution, enhancing payment workflows with embedded account and payee verification capabilities. The collaboration is poised to empower banks to safeguard their customers while streamlining the payment process.

As the adoption of real-time payments accelerates across the globe, the associated risks of fraud are becoming increasingly apparent. According to ACI’s Scamscope report, authorized push payment (APP) scams have already resulted in a staggering USD 4.4 billion in financial losses worldwide, a figure expected to swell to USD 7.6 billion by 2028. Alarmingly, nearly 63% of these losses currently occur on real-time payment platforms, with projections suggesting that this percentage could rise to 80% in the next three years as instant payment systems become more prevalent.

Marc Trepanier, ACI Worldwide’s director of analytics and optimization for fraud and financial crime, emphasized the urgency of the situation, stating, “Instant payments change the economics and timing of fraud. When payments settle in real time, verification must have happened prior to the transaction.”

The collaboration between ACI and Kinexys aims to provide financial institutions with a robust account validation capability that supports a wide range of payment types and global geographies. By integrating account and payee verification within their enterprise fraud platform, banks can implement consistent controls across various payment rails, simplify compliance with evolving regulations, and bolster security as payment volumes continue to rise.

As fraud incidents escalate, there is a growing demand within the industry for stronger account and payee verification processes. By focusing on upfront validation of payment details, banks can identify and prevent fraudulent activities before funds leave customer accounts. This shift is largely driven by rising consumer awareness, increased reimbursement pressures, and a heightened operational risk landscape.

Kinexys Liink, recognized as one of the world’s first bank-led peer-to-peer blockchain-based data-sharing networks, enables secure information exchange and effective account verification in over 70 countries. The Confirm application allows institutions to validate account ownership and other critical data elements seamlessly. This payment rail-agnostic solution facilitates the sharing of payee verification requests and responses through a single network connection while maintaining data control and privacy for participating institutions.

The integration of Kinexys Liink’s Confirm application into ACI’s fraud management platform allows financial institutions to confirm the existence and status of an account, ensuring it aligns with the intended recipient before initiating a payment. This proactive approach significantly reduces the risk of misdirected payments and scams, all while minimizing friction for legitimate customers.

Gloria Wan, General Manager of Kinexys Liink, remarked, “By integrating Kinexys Liink’s Confirm application directly into ACI’s fraud management platform, we’re making it easier for institutions to meet evolving account validation requirements and help protect their customers from fraud.”

ACI Worldwide’s Fraud and Financial Crime solution provides cross-channel, real-time intelligence, enabling institutions to enhance fraud prevention, streamline operations, and adapt to ever-evolving regulatory and customer expectations. By embedding verification and fraud decisioning across various payment methods—including ACH, wire, and instant payments—ACI’s cloud-native platform, ACI Connetic, fosters a holistic approach to fraud management.

Trepanier further elaborated, “When payments settle in real time, verification must have happened prior to the transaction in real time as well. Embedding payee confirmation into the payment flow gives banks the ability to stop fraud before it happens, while supporting the scale and speed customers expect.”

In conjunction with this announcement, ACI Worldwide and Kinexys by J.P. Morgan will participate in a session titled “Improving Fraud Risk Management with Account Validation” at the upcoming Nacha Smarter Faster Payments conference on April 26 in San Diego. The session will feature insights from experts at both companies, focusing on how institutions can operationalize rising expectations around verification in the context of real-time payments.

As the landscape of global payments continues to evolve, the collaboration between ACI Worldwide and Kinexys by J.P. Morgan represents a significant step forward in addressing the challenges posed by fraud in real-time transactions. By integrating advanced verification capabilities directly into payment workflows, this partnership aims to foster a safer and more efficient payments ecosystem, ultimately benefiting consumers and financial institutions alike.