Visa has agreed to acquire fraud prevention company BioCatch for $2.4 billion in cash as the payments giant looks to expand its cybersecurity and financial crime detection capabilities.
Founded in 2011, BioCatch provides behavioral biometrics technology that analyzes application, device, network and user activity to distinguish legitimate customers from fraudsters in real time.
Its artificial intelligence and machine learning models examine thousands of signals, including keystrokes, mouse activity, touchscreen gestures, device handling and signs that a user may be acting under coercion. The technology is designed to identify account takeovers, scams, money mule activity, application fraud and other financial crimes before a transaction is completed.
BioCatch says its technology analyzes 19 billion online banking sessions each month and protects 760 million users across 1.8 billion devices. The company serves more than 350 financial institutions in 21 countries, including over 100 of the world’s largest banks.
“BioCatch will help our clients stop fraud before it reaches the point of payment,” said Andrew Torre, president of value-added services at Visa. “This acquisition is part of our strategy to help clients prevent cyber threats upstream, building trust into every transaction.”
