1
Return

Adaptive Credit Card Fraud Detection: Reinforcement Learning Agents vs. Anomaly Detection Techniques

delete2026-01-09
delete0
delete
OA
AI
H
Houda Ben Mekhlouf
A
Abdellatif Moussaid *
F
Fadoua Ghanimi
DOI:10.3390/fintech5010009delete
deleteOriginal
deleteOriginal request for help
deleteShare
deleteSave
Abstract

Abstract

En 中文
Credit card fraud detection remains a critical challenge for financial institutions, particularly due to extreme class imbalance and the continuously evolving nature of fraudulent behavior. This study investigates two complementary approaches: anomaly detection based on multivariate normal distribution and deep reinforcement learning using a Deep Q-Network. While anomaly detection effectively identifies deviations from normal transaction patterns, its static nature limits adaptability in real-time systems. In contrast, the DQN reinforcement learning model continuously learns from every transaction, autonomously adapting to emerging fraud strategies. Experimental results demonstrate that, although initial performance metrics of the DQN are modest compared to anomaly detection, its capacity for online learning and policy refinement enables long-term improvement and operational scalability. This work highlights reinforcement learning as a highly promising paradigm for dynamic, high-volume fraud detection, capable of evolving with the environment and achieving near-optimal detection rates over time.
Keywords:
credit card fraud detection
reinforcement learning
Deep Q-Network
anomaly detection
imbalanced data
online learning
adaptive systems
transaction security
G21
G28
C45
C38

Journal

F
FINTECH
IF:
0
Papers:
51
Citations:
0

Organization

I
ibn tofail university of kenitra
Scholars:
2.4K
Papers: 1.6K
Citations: 1
M
mohammed vi polytechnic university
Scholars:
3.3K
Papers: 2.3K
Citations: 48
Cited Papers

Cited Papers

Citing Papers

Citing Papers