Payments fraud presents a growing challenge for corporate treasurers and other finance professionals, according to a survey conducted by TD Bank at the 2016 NACHA Payments Conference in April.

TD Bank conducted a mobile app-based poll of finance professionals attending the event in Phoenix. The bank collected 283 responses from industry professionals, including payments system stakeholders from business end-users and financial and technology services organizations.

Eighty-eight percent of attendees surveyed believe that payments fraud will become a bigger threat to the financial services sector over the next two to three years. Despite this anticipated increase, just 1 in 10 attendees felt that an effective solution currently exists.

"Even as the threat of payments fraud increases, many firms are not ready to thwart what could be an influx of cases within the next 24 months," said Rick Burke, head of corporate products and services for TD Bank. "Corporate treasurers need to have conversations with their banking partners to establish controls within their payments processing and accounts, and find better ways to implement layered defenses and detect fraudulent activity."

TD Bank noted that increasing vigilance over payments security will be essential as more organizations shift their payment activities from paper to electronic devices. One in five survey respondents said their companies already have a paper-free payments system in place. Thirty-two percent said they expect to implement such a system at their company within the next one to two years; 42 percent believe becoming paper-free will require three years or longer.

Although they are several years from incorporating entirely paper-free transactions, nearly half (49 percent) of conference attendees said that real-time payments processing is critical to their business. An additional 47 percent view the capability as nice to have, but not yet essential.

Respondents also said that self-service and mobile commercial finance capabilities are a priority, with 74 percent identifying such capabilities as very important to their business. As finance professionals become more adept at using self-service and mobile banking tools in their personal lives, it is likely they will begin to expect them from their commercial banking partners, TD Bank said about the results in a press release.

"As commercial finance professionals look to improve time and process efficiencies and manage cybersecurity threats, they should look to collaborate with their bankers," Burke said. "The faster payments move, the riskier they become, so it will be critical for financial institutions to continue to provide both education and new solutions for many years to come."