Visa said Monday it is acquiring fraud detection startup BioCatch for $2.4 billion in cash, expanding the payment giant's push into cybersecurity as banks confront a surge in artificial intelligence-powered scams and account takeovers.
Under the deal, Visa will acquire BioCatch's behavioral biometrics platform, which analyzes data including keystroke timing, touch screen pressure and other signals to distinguish real users from scammers and bots. Visa is acquiring the firm from London-based private equity firm Permira and other investors.
The acquisition underscores how payments companies are racing to strengthen fraud defenses as generative AI makes attacks cheaper, faster and more convincing. Visa estimates that scams and account takeovers cost the global economy more than $1 trillion annually.
The deal also marks the latest move by Visa to expand its value-added services business, which sells fraud prevention, cybersecurity and analytics software to financial institutions and has become one of the company's fastest-growing divisions. "BioCatch will help our clients stop fraud before it reaches the point of payment," Andrew Torre, Visa's president of value-added services, said in a statement.
