Visa To Acquire BioCatch For $2.4 Billion As Fraud Threats Escalate
By CU Today Staff —
SAN FRANCISCO--Visa is acquiring Israel-based fraud intelligence company BioCatch for $2.4 billion in cash, a deal aimed at strengthening Visa’s ability to help financial institutions combat account takeovers, scams and other increasingly sophisticated forms of digital fraud, according to PYMNTS.
PYMNTS reported the deal will add BioCatch’s AI- and machine learning-powered behavioral intelligence to Visa’s cyber, fraud, risk and security capabilities. BioCatch analyzes thousands of behavioral, device and network signals—including keystrokes and how a device is handled—to distinguish legitimate customers from fraudsters.
“Account takeovers and scams cost the global economy over $1 trillion annually and AI is enabling these attacks at unprecedented scale,” Visa Value-Added Services President Andrew Torre said. “BioCatch will help our clients stop fraud before it reaches the point of payment.”
BioCatch protects 1.8 billion devices and 760 million users globally and serves more than 350 banking customers in 21 countries, including more than 100 of the world’s largest banks, according to PYMNTS.
“Real-time insights into customer intent continue to grow increasingly essential for institutions to establish trust within digital banking sessions,” BioCatch CEO Gadi Mazor said. “For more than a decade, we’ve demonstrated behavior’s unique ability to distinguish the criminal from the legitimate.”
The acquisition comes as fraud prevention consumes a growing share of issuers’ technology spending. PYMNTS Intelligence research conducted with Visa DPS found 42% of bank and non-bank issuers rank fraud and disputes as their largest or second-largest platform-related operating cost after employees. About 60% of issuers are deploying or enhancing AI-powered card fraud detection, while 68% of high-customer-lifetime-value issuers said enhanced security and fraud prevention are required for agentic commerce, according to PYMNTS.
Originally reported by CU Today.