SEON, the command centre for immediate Fraud Prevention and AML Compliance, has unveiled AI Reality Check: 2026 Fraud & AML Leaders Report, the second iteration of its sector research, derived from a worldwide survey of 1,010 leaders in fraud, risk, and compliance spanning payments, fintech, financial services, retail, eCommerce, and gaming.

The figures reveal an unforeseen narrative: AI is ubiquitous, yet operations are not becoming easier to manage. Currently, 98% of organizations utilize AI in fraud and AML processes, with 95% expressing confidence in its effectiveness; meanwhile, headcount plans rose from 88% to 94% year-over-year, and 83% anticipate budget increases in 2026.

Complexity Is Surpassing Automation

AI has not lessened the workload — it has revealed the extent of work that has always existed. Fraud losses are increasingly approaching revenue growth, threats are advancing more rapidly, and disjointed systems restrict the true potential of AI at scale. Key year-over-year shift:​

Leadership’s confidence in their teams’ performance is lagging. The number of leaders who disagreed with the statement, “fraud losses are growing faster than revenue,”​ dropped by almost 40% from the previous year

Inside the Numbers:​

AI is baseline, not experimental​

• 98% already integrate AI into daily workflows (only 2% still planning)​
• 95% are confident AI can detect and prevent fraud (52% very confident)​
• Top use case: AI/ML for transaction monitoring (30%)​

Fraud and AML investment keeps climbing​

• 83% expect fraud/AML budgets to increase in 2026​
• 94% plan to add at least one full-time hire (up from 88% in 2025)​
• 85% plan to add a vendor, 49% plan to replace one​

Fragmentation is the bottleneck​

• 95% claim “some integration” between fraud and AML systems​
• Only 47% run fully integrated workflows; the rest rely on partial connections​
• 80% say getting a unified view of data is challenging​

For many, time-to-value remains slow​

Only 10% go live in under two weeks​
38% take 1–3 months, 24% take 4+ months​
When implementations run long, top impacts include increased costs (52%) and prolonged fraud exposure (47%)​

Teams are growing, not shrinking​

94% plan to increase headcount despite automation gains​
85% see AI agents as support/augmentation, not replacement (only 12% see eventual replacement)​

Top fraud threats reported:​

• Account takeovers: 26%
• Promo/discount abuse: 18%
• Return fraud: 18%​

“Fraud and financial crime were supposed to become more manageable as AI matured,” said Tamas Kadar, CEO and co-founder, SEON. “Instead, 2026 is the year leaders are confronting a more complicated reality. AI adoption is real, confidence is high, but the scale and pace of fraud — compounded by fragmented systems — continue to drive increased investment rather than reduced overhead. The bottleneck is no longer whether AI works. It’s everything around it: disconnected data, siloed teams, slow implementations. The organisations that pull ahead will be the ones that unify fraud and AML intelligence, shorten the distance between threats and controls, and treat integration as strategy, not plumbing.”​

Fast-Growing Companies Invest in Integration Early​

Organisations growing 51%+ are nearly twice as likely as slower peers to report that achieving unified visibility is “not very challenging.” They treat integration as infrastructure, not an IT project.​

What’s Next: From “Does AI Work?” to “Can We Trust It?”​

With adoption near-universal, the conversation is shifting to governance, explainability and accountability:​

• 78% say decentralised digital identity will become central to fraud/AML​
• 33% cite data privacy regulations (GDPR, CCPA) as the biggest external force shaping AML​
• 25% point to criminals’ advancing use of AI and obfuscation techniques​

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BetConstruct AI is thrilled to share its involvement in the SBC Summit Rio 2026, taking place from March 4-5 at the Riocentro in Rio de Janeiro. As Brazil enters its second year of complete regulation, BetConstruct AI emerges at this critical market moment to present a vision of technological empowerment and strategic independence.

At Stand A230, attendees will find an extensive range of AI-powered solutions tailored to satisfy the expectations of the Brazilian crowd. The exhibition highlights the top-tier Sportsbook and Casino Platforms, designed to expand quickly while ensuring peak performance levels.

Apart from the main platforms, BetConstruct AI supplies the necessary framework for a leading online brand. This encompasses CMS Pro, a tailored content management system that enables operators to oversee their complete business from one unified platform, and SpringBuilder X, our mobile-centric, SEO-focused drag-and-drop website creator that removes the necessity for technical expertise. Advancing customization, BetChain AI provides an innovative method to design and develop iGaming sites more efficiently and intelligently, granting partners complete creative authority. These essential tools are crafted to operate in complete synergy with our advanced intelligence layer, establishing a smooth connection between an impressive user interface and intricate back-end automation.

At the heart of the exhibition lies the BetConstruct AI Suite, an advanced set of tools designed to streamline and enhance the operator’s experience.
This encompasses:

●CRM AI: Delivering deep behavioral insights to enhance player retention.
●Umbrella AI: Providing real-time risk management and automated player protection.
●AI Game Recommendation System: Ensuring personalized content delivery to maximize engagement.
●Betting Mate: An intuitive AI companion that elevates the player experience with real-time stats and insights.

Demonstrating its dedication to the long-term success of the Brazilian market, BetConstruct AI will emphasize its unique “The Choice to Grow” initiative. This performance-driven program aims to incentivize partners that reach a 16.67% growth in GGR each quarter. Achieving these goals across a wide array of products – such as Sportsbook, Virtual Sports, and partner brands like PopOK Gaming and CreedRoomz – enables operators to receive a 51% invoice discount every third month, plus exclusive service advantages and tournament participation.

BetConstruct AI encourages all industry stakeholders, operators, and media representatives to stop by Stand A230 at Riocentro. The team will be present during the summit to showcase how a connected, AI-driven ecosystem enables partners to select the route of innovation, efficiency, and market leadership in the Brazilian market.

The post BetConstruct AI Charts a New Course for Brazil’s iGaming Market at SBC Summit Rio 2026 appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.

AI-driven customer support company Tugi Tark has revealed a collaboration with PEC.BET, a recently established sportsbook and online casino operator that offers players access to various bookmakers via a single account. The collaboration integrates Tugi Tark’s customer support system and iGaming-focused AI agents into PEC.BET’s player assistance operations as the operator launches in the market.

PEC.BET functions on a cutting-edge multi-bookmaker sportsbook system that embraces winners. Grounded in transparency and accessibility, PEC.BET recognized customer service infrastructure as a critical operational focus from the outset and chose Tugi Tark for this purpose to create its support system.

“As a new operator, it was important for us to put the right operational foundations in place from the beginning,” said a spokesperson PEC.BET. “Our multi-bookmaker model means we welcome winners, which shapes how we approach player relationships. Working with Tugi Tark allows us to support players efficiently while ensuring our internal team remains focused on more complex player matters and VIP care.”

Tugi Tark’s AI platform for customer service offers PEC.BET a unified space to oversee player assistance through various channels. AI agents help with initial resolutions, while more complicated issues are forwarded to support personnel. This method allows PEC.BET to uphold consistent service while adjusting to rising demand as the operator expands.

“PEC.BET is entering the market with a clear focus on transparency and accessibility for players,” said Harpo Lilja, CEO of Tugi Tark. “Our role is to provide a support layer that can operate consistently from day one and scale alongside the platform as it grows.”

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