Payments Leaders Need AI Controls They Can Explain Within 24 Hours

AI is now embedded in real-time payment processes, with models influencing fraud detection, transaction approvals, compliance and personalized experiences. When those models make mistakes, the risks can escalate within milliseconds. PYMNTS therefore sees governance as a competitive dividing line, emphasizing end-to-end accountability across product, engineering, risk and operations, along with explainability and oversight of third-party models.

PYMNTS launched the series on April 7, 2026. On April 13, Braze Senior Director Kipp Johnson said its AI Decisioning Studio had made more than 17 billion personalized decisions over the previous year, citing cases in which a 72-hour data lag forced a project to be redone and a pipeline disruption lasted three weeks. On April 23, Paysafe Chief Technology Officer Ahu Chhapgar renewed calls for stronger auditing and contingency measures. The reports disclosed no investment figures.

Trulioo’s chief strategy officer says AI is rapidly reshaping financial services and payment processes, with functions from transaction screening to risk assessment increasingly reliant on automation. Governance rules, however, are failing to keep pace with technological advances. Unclear accountability for decisions could amplify fraud, erroneous judgments and regulatory compliance risks, making human oversight essential to financial security.

Trulioo’s latest report, “Why AI Needs the Right Humans in the Loop,” argues that financial institutions should establish clear accountability, human review and escalation procedures for AI decisions. Appropriately qualified personnel should also intervene in high-risk payments. The report provides no specific loss amounts, quantified results or implementation dates, focusing instead on urging the industry to strengthen governance frameworks early.

Corporate payments and employee benefits provider WEX widely uses AI to process large transaction volumes, detect fraud and accelerate decision-making. Chief Risk and Compliance Officer Annie Drew says governance, accountability and transparency must be built in from the design stage when automated systems directly influence payments and risk assessments. She considers these safeguards as important as the GDPR’s rules on data privacy.

Drew recently stressed that companies and their employees ultimately remain responsible for risk even when AI drives payment processes. WEX should ensure that model decisions are explainable, maintain human oversight and continuously manage fraud and trust risks. Available information about the development does not disclose a policy release date, the value of transactions involved or an implementation timetable, nor does it announce a new investment budget or quantitative targets.