Visa is strengthening its cybersecurity and fraud prevention capabilities through a $2.4 billion all-cash deal to acquire fraud intelligence company BioCatch. The transaction is the card giant’s latest move to expand its security offerings as digital threats become more complex.
Visa said the acquisition will strengthen its existing cyber, fraud, risk and security solutions and help clients protect themselves more effectively from emerging threats.
“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,” said Andrew Torre, president of value-added services at Visa.
Founded in 2011, BioCatch uses behavioural intelligence to identify legitimate users and fraudsters in real time. It analyses signals such as keystrokes, touch gestures and device handling to help protect transactions.
BioCatch serves more than 350 banking clients across 21 countries. Its technology protects 1.8 billion devices and 760 million users globally.
“We think investors will welcome the news as there has been increasing discussion about the need for enhanced fraud solutions to protect payments in the AI age, with many flagging Mastercard’s Recorded Future as the best-in-class tool for this,” said Evercore analyst Adam Frisch.
Investment firm Permira first invested in BioCatch in 2023 and acquired a majority stake in 2024 at a $1.3 billion valuation. During its ownership, BioCatch’s revenue and gross profit each increased roughly 3x.
Payment giants have increasingly relied on acquisitions to strengthen fraud prevention. Mastercard completed its $2.65 billion acquisition of threat intelligence company Recorded Future in 2024, while Visa acquired payments protection company Featurespace the same year.
Visa has invested more than $13 billion in technology and infrastructure over the past 5 years to combat fraud.
The BioCatch transaction is expected to close by the end of Visa’s fiscal Q2 2027.
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