Financial fraud has morphed from a simple technical glitch into a sophisticated psychological game, and no one is immune. Nearly 60% of banks, fintechs, and credit unions reported direct fraud losses exceeding $500,000 in 2023. Notably, over a quarter of these institutions faced losses surpassing $1 million.
To have a raw, real look at how the fraud prevention landscape is shifting in a world where every second counts, we talked with Michal Tresner, co-founder and CEO of ThreatMark. Over the past 12 months, Czech-founded ThreatMark achieved an impressive 75% year-over-year ARR increase, and their recent funding milestone brings their total fundraising to $37 million.
“The old-school, rules-based fraud prevention models just can’t keep up anymore. Attackers are using AI, automation, and social engineering to bypass outdated security measures.”
The State of Fraud
Online banking fraud continues to grow, with global losses reaching $486 billion in 2023. Instead of regular “old” exploiting of technical vulnerabilities, attackers nowadays are intently focusing on social engineering. In 2024, scam-related fraud surged, becoming the predominant form of financial crime.
Fraud is obviously evolving, but so is the fight against it. Michal states, “The industry is seeing more targeted, more automated attacks. Fraudsters are leveraging AI just as much as security providers are.” This arms race means traditional fraud prevention methods—rigid rule-based systems—are becoming obsolete.
Instead, companies like ThreatMark are turning to advanced behavioral biometrics, AI-driven fraud detection, and real-time monitoring. “What we’ve built isn’t just a tool to block fraud—it’s an intelligence layer that understands and adapts to threats before they cause damage,” Michal explains.
Challenging the industry status quo
One of the most significant pain points in fraud prevention is the slow, cumbersome deployment of new solutions. “A traditional implementation involves running a tender, selecting a provider, collecting and preparing internal data, training machine learning models, and finally deploying the solution. That entire process can take two to three years,” Michal explains.
They knew they had to be different if they wanted to compete with big players. Faster, smarter, and easier to deploy. However, another major issue is data accessibility.
Banks often struggle with gathering, cleaning, and integrating the necessary data for fraud detection. Michal noted that for many institutions, “the hardest part isn’t even implementing fraud prevention; it’s just getting the data in a usable format. That alone can delay projects for months or years.”
And “fraudsters don’t wait,” Michal adds. If a bank takes months or years to implement a new system, it’s already too late.” So, they set a vision to disrupt this sluggish model by focusing on speed and efficiency.
The power of efficient data handling
To break away from the industry’s slow deployment cycles, ThreatMark pioneered a model that allows banks to go live in a fraction of the time, they say. “We have case studies where tier-one banks were able to deploy our solution across all their digital banking channels within just three to four weeks,” Michal shared. “That speed is unheard of in this industry,” Michal states.
The key to this rapid implementation lies in how ThreatMark handles data collection. Instead of requiring banks to extract and clean massive amounts of internal data, ThreatMark’s solution collects and structures the data itself. They tap directly into the source…
“Most fraud prevention solutions rely on banks to gather, clean, and format the data before anything can be done. That’s what slows the whole process down. We flipped the model—we designed a system that collects and processes the necessary data, with minimal involvement from the bank’s IT team.” Also, banks don’t need dedicated architects or machine learning experts to prepare the data.
How do you build trust in a conservative industry?
You might wonder: aren’t banks usually reluctant to give access to their data sources? And you would be right to ask… Banks are notoriously cautious about integrating third-party solutions, especially those requiring access to confidential data. So, while technology is a driving force in fraud prevention, building trust is equally crucial.
“For banks, handing over fraud prevention to an external provider takes a lot of trust,” Michal acknowledged. “We had to prove, not just once, but repeatedly, that our solution is secure, reliable, and effective.”
One way ThreatMark has built this trust is through industry certifications. “We maintain compliance with strict global security standards like ISO 27001 and PCI DSS. But beyond certifications, what really convinces banks is our track record. We have long-term customers who stay with us for five years or more, renewing contracts without hesitation. That’s the best proof that our solution works.” So far they’ve maintained a zero-churn rate.
What about other regulatory matters, like user privacy? “We don’t collect sensitive personal data. Instead, we analyze anonymized behavioral patterns—how a person interacts with their device, for instance. That way, we stay compliant with regulations like GDPR while keeping users safe.”
Central European type of innovators
ThreatMark was built with a strong technical foundation, a characteristic Michal sees as common in Central European startups. “We’re really good at building deep-tech solutions, but we’re not always great at promoting ourselves,” he admitted. “In the U.S., companies start with the story and build hype before they even have a product. We did the opposite—we spent years perfecting the technology before telling the world about it.”
With its recent investment round, ThreatMark is now ready to scale its global presence, particularly in the U.S. and U.K. markets. “We already have customers in these regions, but we need to strengthen our brand awareness,” Michal said. “That means investing in marketing, partnerships, and expanding our sales teams.”
Looking beyond banking, ThreatMark is also eyeing other industries. “E-commerce, insurance, healthcare—fraud isn’t just a banking problem. The core of our technology is adaptable, and we see huge potential to expand into these areas.”
As for the long-term vision, Michal remains focused on innovation. “Right now, being independent allows us to move fast and stay ahead of the curve. But if the right partnership or acquisition opportunity arises—one that helps us better serve our clients—we’d consider it. Our mission is simple: stay on the cutting edge and protect as many people as possible.”
