Head of Fraud Prevention
Fifth Third Bank
Kris Edwards serves as the Head of Fraud Prevention, where he leads enterprise-wide strategies to detect, prevent, and respond to emerging financial crime threats. With a career built across multiple lines of defense in banking, Kris brings a unique cross-functional perspective that blends operational execution, regulatory insight, and risk-management expertise.
Kris began his career at Fifth Third in Internal Audit, where he developed a strong foundation in control design, testing, and risk assessment. He went on to hold roles in Compliance, Business Controls, Consumer Product, and most recently the bank’s enterprise Fraud Prevention organization. This diverse background enables him to connect regulatory expectations, operational realities, and customer-experience considerations to drive effective fraud-mitigation programs.
In his current role, Kris oversees fraud-prevention strategy, analytics, technology enablement, operations and cross-functional coordination across the bank’s consumer and commercial businesses.
Education
Kris holds a Certified Regulatory Compliance Manager (CRCM) designation and earned his Bachelor’s degree in Management Information Systems from The Ohio State University and his MBA from Xavier University.
Authorized Push Payment fraud—where criminals manipulate victims into willingly sending money—cost Americans over $8 billion in 2024. Unlike traditional fraud, customers authorize these transfers, creating a liability gray zone. The UK now mandates reimbursement for fraud victims (up to £85,000), and U.S. regulators are watching closely. Banks face a three-part challenge: detecting social engineering in real-time without blocking legitimate payments, determining liability when customers override warnings, and balancing protection with personal responsibility. This session examines behavioral analytics, friction-based interventions, effective customer education, and evolving liability frameworks.