Lloyds Deploys Agentic AI to Fight Cyber Fraud in Real Time

Lloyds Banking Group is expanding its deployment of AI to address one of the most persistent and costly challenges – fraud.

Over £1bn (US$1.3bn) of fraud was prevented in 2025 by Lloyds.

Since 2023, the banking giant invested £100m (US$133.8m) in new fraud technology, positioning the organisation at the leading edge of AI-driven crime prevention.

AI-powered threat detection systems

The core of Lloyds' defence strategy is a newly deployed agentic AI system designed to enhance real-time threat assessment across its fraud operations.

The system was built using Envoy – the group's secure AI platform – and developed collaboratively by fraud, technology, data and risk teams.

Traditional rule-based systems operate on predefined parameters, while agentic AI introduces multiple autonomous agents working simultaneously behind the scenes to process threats in parallel.

These agents perform tasks including identity verification, transaction monitoring and scam risk analysis and such parallel processing slashes response times when identifying attack vectors.

The system is embedded into tools already used by frontline colleagues, allowing security personnel to act quickly while maintaining oversight of automated decisions.

Human oversight in automated defence

Lloyds is implementing a human-in-the-loop model where colleagues retain full accountability for decisions.

AI-generated insights can be overridden, ensuring regulatory alignment and customer protection remain priorities.

In customer interactions, particularly when dealing with high-risk scenarios, the agentic system enables faster and more informed interventions.

Surfacing data in real time, it allows staff to focus on supporting customers rather than navigating complex data sets.

"AI is now integrated across our organisation and is transforming how we operate and serve customers," says Ron van Kemenade, Group COO at Lloyds Banking Group. 

"Our ongoing investment keeps Lloyds Banking Group ahead in responsible tech adoption within financial services."

Real-time payment threat analysis

Lloyds is also rolling out Scam Check – a customer-facing feature embedded within payment journeys across Lloyds, Halifax and Bank of Scotland.

The goal is to introduce a layer of protection at the point of transaction.

As customers attempt to pay a new recipient, Scam Check assesses the likelihood of fraud using machine learning and image analysis.

If and when a risk is detected, users are prompted with questions and asked to upload screenshots of the item they intend to purchase.

This capability could show particular value for marketplace and social media transactions, where authorised push payment scams are common.

By intervening before a payment is completed, Lloyds aims to shift fraud prevention upstream in the attack chain.

The Dark Horse signals fraud prevention

Lloyds has introduced the Dark Horse logo within its banking apps and payment journeys. The symbol signals that fraud detection systems are actively monitoring transactions in the background.

Aimed to increase transparency in how security measures operate, the logo functions as a passive indicator of active defence measures to reassure customers without adding friction to their experience.

Tom Martin, Business Platform Lead for Economic Crime Prevention for Lloyds Banking Group, says: "Fraud is increasingly fast-moving and complex, so our focus is on responsibly applying AI in a way that genuinely helps customers, without delaying prevention.

"By combining agentic AI with human oversight, we can create an invisible forcefield around our customers, monitoring risk in real time and stepping in only when it matters."

Underpinning these innovations is Envoy, Lloyds' enterprise AI platform designed to enable secure, compliant and scalable deployment of AI solutions.

Supporting a range of use cases ranging from fraud detection to customer service enhancements, Envoy ensures alignment with regulatory and ethical standards. 

Its architecture allows easy integration with existing systems, and enables rapid development and deployment without compromising security protocols.

The platform also reinforces governance frameworks, ensuring that AI adoption remains controlled and auditable.

At a time when financial crime grows more sophisticated, Lloyds' investment in agentic AI demonstrates how financial institutions are moving from reactive fraud detection to proactive, real-time prevention powered by intelligent systems and human oversight.