Making waves: what stood out in Alkami Co:lab’s Fraud & Security sessions

San Diego, you delivered the sunshine, the energy, and the big ideas at Alkami Co:lab 2026! From ocean views to bold conversations, this year’s conference brought together forward-thinking financial institutions ready to shape what’s next. Now, let’s rewind and dive into the moments that made the biggest splash!

Across Fraud & Security sessions, attendees explored how financial fraud prevention is shifting earlier in the lifecycle, moving beyond transaction monitoring toward anticipating risk before it escalates. From new innovations across the Alkami Digital Sales & Service Platform to smarter ways to turn behavioral signals into action, the conversations were centered on one goal: protecting account holders while keeping experiences seamless.

In this recap, we’re breaking down the standout insights, strategies, and real-world perspectives shared by Alkami customers and industry leaders, so you can take what was discussed and put it into motion.

Fraud’s Double Agent: When AI Fights Back

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is accelerating both sides of fraud. Fraudsters are using generative AI to sharpen attacks, while financial institutions are using it to detect intent and behavior. The result is a shift from credential-based security to identifying who is truly behind each interaction.

During the session, Doug Linebarger, chief legal officer, Alkami, Theo Lau from Unconventional Ventures, and Willis Chang from Kinecta Federal Credit Union, described how quickly generative AI has raised the bar for fraud. Phishing attempts now read like polished communications, and deepfakes are removing the last visual cues that once signaled risk.

In response, financial institutions are applying AI to go deeper, analyzing patterns, behaviors, and anomalies that reveal intent. This is where behavioral biometrics is gaining traction. By evaluating how a user types, swipes, or holds a device, banks and credit unions can detect inconsistencies that credentials alone won’t catch.

The shift is clear: access no longer equals trust. AI is enabling financial institutions to validate identity continuously, helping them stay a step ahead as fraud tactics evolve.

From Fraud Defense to Scam Resilience: Protecting Account Holders, Trust, and the Digital Experience

This Alkami Co:lab session highlighted the rise of authorized scams, when account holders are manipulated into sending funds. The focus is shifting toward scam resilience, intervening earlier in the journey by detecting social engineering signals and disrupting scams before money moves.

Max Garcia, chief information security officer, Alkami, moved the conversation from detection to timing. If scams rely on urgency and manipulation, then breaking that moment becomes critical.

One of the strongest signals discussed was “active call” detection, identifying when an account holder is on the phone while attempting a high-risk transaction. That combination often points to real-time social engineering. From there, intervention becomes possible. A well-placed prompt, a pause in the flow, or contextual education can interrupt the scam before funds leave the account.

Mule account monitoring adds another layer. By identifying patterns like rapid inflows followed by immediate transfers, financial institutions can disrupt the movement of stolen funds and reduce downstream impact. Together, these strategies reflect a more anticipatory approach, stepping in at the right moment to protect both the account holder and the experience.

Racing the Fraudsters: Staying Ahead in Retail Payments

This session focused on the reality of real-time payments: once money moves, there’s no reversal. Financial institutions are responding with layered, real-time security that evaluates identity and behavior continuously, enabling faster, more confident decisions without slowing the experience.

In the panel, led by Mike MacDowell from Alkami, speed was the defining theme. The panelists included Michael Bruno from the United States Postal Inspection Service, Bobby Osborne from Empower Federal Credit Union, Kay Turmenne from Kennebunk Savings Bank, and Sam Kullen from Veridian Credit Union. As payments move instantly, fraud prevention has to operate with the same urgency. That’s driving a move toward layered security models that evaluate multiple signals at once, such as device identity, behavioral patterns, and transaction context. Instead of relying on a single checkpoint, trust is assessed continuously throughout the interaction.

Outdated methods like SMS-based authentication were called out as increasingly vulnerable. The panelists pointed to stronger alternatives that validate identity in real time without friction.

A real-world example from Empower Federal Credit Union highlighted how voice authentication in the contact center can streamline verification while strengthening security. In a real-time world, financial fraud prevention has to be both immediate and invisible to the legitimate user.

Fortifying the Front Lines: Winning the Battle Against Business Payments Fraud

This panel, led by Brad Cranford from Alkami, explored how financial institutions are addressing the rise of business payments fraud, including business email compromise (BEC). Panelists Desiree Wolfe from Hudson Valley Credit Union and Robin Seelye from Northwest Bank emphasized automation, dual control, and proactive safeguards that reduce risk without increasing manual effort, helping protect high-value relationships and prevent fraud before payments are initiated.

Business payments bring higher stakes and require a different level of control. The session emphasized that prevention starts well before a transaction is submitted. Automation plays a growing role. One example shared was automatically enrolling business accounts in Positive Pay after a fraud event, helping reduce repeat exposure without requiring manual follow-up.

Dual authorization was another consistent theme. Requiring multiple approvals for changes like ACH instructions or vendor details creates a checkpoint when fraud attempts can be stopped early. Some financial institutions are also shifting default actions to return suspicious items, giving teams more time to investigate in time-sensitive scenarios.These strategies work together to create stronger guardrails, protecting business relationships while keeping operations efficient.

AI in Action: Turning Caution into Confidence

Move from hesitation to confidence with AI. By combining anomaly detection with human oversight, teams can surface complex threats, reduce manual workload, and make faster, more informed decisions while maintaining control and trust in the process.

Matt Wilson and Kim Reed from Alkami acknowledged a common tension: financial institutions want the speed of AI, but also clarity and control. That’s where a “human in the loop” model comes into play. AI surfaces anomalies and prioritizes risk, while teams step in to evaluate complex or high-impact cases.

This approach moves beyond static rules. Instead of only catching known patterns, AI identifies behavior that doesn’t fit, surfacing threats that might otherwise go unnoticed. Trust scoring was highlighted as a practical application. By combining multiple signals into a dynamic risk profile, financial institutions can streamline low-risk interactions and focus attention where it’s needed most. Over time, this builds confidence, not just in the technology, but in the outcomes it enables.

What’s Next for Fraud & Security

This session previewed the future of fraud prevention, with a focus on eliminating weak points like passwords and SMS. Emerging capabilities include passkeys, push authentication, and AI-driven scam detection, alongside more granular controls designed to limit risk even when accounts are compromised.

Looking ahead, Brad Cranford, Mike MacDowell, and Scott Joy from Alkami focused on eliminating common points of failure. Passwords and SMS-based authentication continue to be targeted, making them less reliable as standalone defenses. In their place, financial institutions are adopting passkeys and push-based authentication, which offer stronger protection while simplifying access for account holders.

AI is also expanding its role in detecting social engineering. New capabilities are being developed to better identify patterns tied to scams like BEC and romance fraud — areas where traditional controls have struggled. For business accounts, more granular permissions and approval workflows are on the horizon. These controls help limit what can happen even if access is compromised.

The direction is practical: strengthen security in ways that align with how people actually interact digitally.

Roundtable: Securing Tomorrow’s Financial Frontier

Industry peers shared how they’re evolving fraud strategies to keep pace with emerging threats. The discussion centered on closing control gaps, increasing automation, and shifting toward proactive, predictive approaches that balance strong protection with a seamless digital experience.

The roundtable brought together a range of perspectives, but a common theme emerged: fraud prevention is becoming more connected across teams, tools, and data. Many participants shared that key processes are still manual, creating gaps in visibility and response time. At the same time, there’s growing momentum toward automation, particularly in tracking meaningful signals and key performance indicators (KPIs).

Education also surfaced as a critical component. Ensuring both employees and account holders understand evolving threats adds an important layer of defense. As the conversation turned to the future, the focus shifted to prediction. Financial institutions are prioritizing investments that help them identify risk earlier and act faster — moving from reactive strategies to proactive, data-informed decisions.

Hands-On Training: Fraud Trail: Payroll Panic!

This interactive session was an invitation for financial institution leaders to simulate fraud prevention strategies. This exercise allowed bankers to stress-test their own wire, ACH, and Positive Pay playbooks, and deliberately rebalance policies, staffing, and training so security, service, and staff are aligned.

Max Parker from Alkami led this Oregon Trail-style session where attendees were cast as the executive team of a financial institution forced to navigate three “no-win” fraud scenarios. Using a game board, tokens, and three core pillars — loss prevention, user experience, and operations capacity — teams had to prioritize, allocate resources, and choose their action plan in high-stakes scenarios. Attendees experienced the importance of multi-factor authentication, managing exceptions and controls with Positive Pay, and monitoring ACH batch payments.

Explore the full library of Alkami Co:lab 2026 sessions to see how financial institutions are advancing financial fraud prevention and creating safer, more seamless experiences for account holders.