Visa to buy cybersecurity firm BioCatch for $2.4 billion amid surge in AI-powered scams
It is also the latest move by Visa to expand its value-added services business, which has become one of the company's fastest-growing divisions.
Visa announced on Monday its acquisition of fraud detection firm BioCatch for $2.4 billion in cash, aiming to bolster its cybersecurity capabilities as the industry grapples with an escalation in AI-driven scams and account takeovers. The deal sees Visa acquiring BioCatch's behavioral biometrics platform, which scrutinizes data such as keystroke patterns, touch screen pressure, and other indicators to differentiate genuine users from fraudulent actors.
The acquisition includes BioCatch from its current owners, London-based private equity firm Permira and other investors.
This move underscores the growing urgency for payments companies to fortify their fraud defenses, with Visa estimating that scams and account takeovers cost the global economy over $1 trillion annually. The acquisition also aligns with Visa's strategy to expand its value-added services, a division that provides fraud prevention, cybersecurity, and analytics software to financial institutions and is among the company's fastest-growing segments.
Andrew Torre, Visa's president of value-added services, stated that BioCatch will empower clients to preemptively thwart fraud before it reaches the payment stage. The acquisition is anticipated to conclude by the end of Visa's fiscal second quarter in 2027, contingent upon regulatory clearances. BioCatch, an Israeli startup, currently safeguards 760 million users across approximately 350 banks, while Visa's global network encompasses nearly 14,500 financial institutions, facilitating over 329 billion transactions annually valued at more than $17 trillion.
In a blog post accompanying the announcement, BioCatch expressed its intention to scale its influence amidst the increasing tide of global fraud. "The reality is, as a society and industry, we are not winning this fight," BioCatch noted. "The value of fraud and scam losses, alongside the volume of fraud and scam attempts, mule accounts, and victims of these financial crimes, all continue to rise (in some instances, exponentially) every year, worldwide."
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