Central 1 has been named a finalist at the 2026 PayTech Awards in the Best Fraud Prevention & Combat Solutions in Payments category, in partnership with Featurespace. This recognition highlights the strength of Central 1’s real-time fraud prevention capabilities, helping financial institutions detect, prevent and respond to fraud with greater speed and confidence.
The nomination comes at a time when fraud continues to grow in both scale and sophistication, requiring equally advanced tools to keep pace.
Responding to a growing fraud threat
During a recent Central 1 webinar, Ron Kaine, Associate Vice-President of Fraud Solutions, shared a sobering reminder on the reality financial institutions face:
Committing fraud is literally their full-time job. It’s a whole global industry. They go to work. They eat lunch together. There are in-house training programs. They have benefits, salaries, profit sharing and pensions.
This reality underscores the need for intelligent fraud prevention. Central 1 partners with leading innovators to strengthen the payments ecosystem and help clients stay ahead of increasingly complex threats.
One of those partners is Featurespace (a Visa solution). In 2023, Central 1 implemented Featurespace’s real-time fraud prevention solution, which uses adaptive behavioural analytics and machine learning to identify suspicious activity as it happens. The result: improved detection, faster response and stronger protection for our clients and their customers.
Delivering real-world results
Shortly after implementation, Central 1’s fraud capture rates increased by 10%, with continued strong performance. In a four-month period in 2025, Central 1:
- Stopped nearly 80% of fraud attempts — well above industry benchmarks
- Protected over 67% of funds at risk, while minimizing disruption to legitimate transactions
Together, these outcomes were a key factor in Central 1’s recognition as a PayTech Awards finalist. They demonstrate the value of combining advanced technology with Central 1’s deep understanding of the Canadian financial services landscape.
Our goal is simple: help our clients move faster than fraud. By combining advanced analytics with real-world expertise, we’re enabling earlier detection, smarter decisions and strong protection where it matters most.
– Ron Kaine, Associate Vice-President of Fraud Solutions
This recognition reinforces Central 1’s commitment to continuous innovation in fraud prevention. As threats evolve, Central 1 and its partners remain focused on advancing real-time, intelligence-driven solutions to help build a more secure and resilient payments ecosystem for the future.
