Visa to buy fraud intelligence provider BioCatch for $2.4bn

(Sharecast News) - Visa said on Monday that it has agreed to buy fraud intelligence provider BioCatch from funds advised by Permira and other shareholders for $2.4bn in cash.

BioCatch prevents fraud and financial crime by recognising patterns in human behaviour, continuously collecting anonymised data points as people interact with their digital banking platforms.

With these inputs, the company's AI and machine-learning models assess both user intent and any signs of coercion or manipulation throughout every digital banking session, allowing banks to distinguish the criminal from the legitimate in real time.

Visa said the acquisition complements its existing cyber, fraud, risk and security solutions and is expected to help clients better protect themselves and their customers from the growing threat of account takeovers, scams, money mules and application fraud.

BioCatch protects 1.8 billion devices and 760 million users worldwide, serving more than 350 banking clients in 21 different countries, including more than 100 of the largest banks globally.

Andrew Torre, president of value-added services at Visa, said: "Account takeovers and scams cost the global economy over $1 trillion annually and AI is enabling these attacks at unprecedented scale.

"BioCatch will help our clients stop fraud before it reaches the point of payment. This acquisition is part of our strategy to help clients prevent cyber threats upstream, building trust into every transaction."