Payments fraud remains widespread, but has inched down from thepeak seen in 2009, according to the close to 450 corporate financeexecutives who participated in the Association for FinancialProfessionals' eighth annual survey. And despite the prevalence ofpayments fraud, its cost to companies isn't that high.

Two-thirds of companies experienced either attempted or actualpayments fraud last year, down from 71% in 2010 and 73% in 2009.Bigger companies saw more fraud attempts than smaller companies,with 81% of those with annual revenue of more than $1 billionhaving been hit, vs. just 55% of companies with revenue of lessthan $1 billion.

The AFP reports suggests companies' efforts to control fraud maybe paying off, citing such methods as positive pay and dailyreconciliations of bank accounts.

Even when fraudsters succeed, companies' losses are not thatlarge. Almost three-quarters (74%) of companies that experiencedactual or attempted payment fraud last year said they did notsuffer a loss, according to the survey, while 16% cited a loss ofless than $25,000 and 10% had losses greater than $25,000. AFPcalculates that the median actual loss was $19,200.

Checks are the most popular avenue for fraudsters, with 85% ofthe companies that experienced fraud or attempted fraud attemptsaying it involved checks, vs. just 23% citing ACH debits, 20%corporate cards, and 5% each citing ACH credits, wire transfers andpayroll cards.

The AFP survey suggests that attempts to steal from companies bycompromising their online banking credentials are not thatfrequent. Just 4% said they were the victim last year of afraudulent transaction that occurred online, while 8% said they hadexperienced an online fraud attempt that was unsuccessful.

The full AFP report is available here.