Visa has announced its plans to acquire Featurespace, a company specializing in artificial intelligence (AI) technology designed to combat payment fraud and financial crime. The acquisition is expected to enhance Visa’s existing fraud detection and risk-scoring solutions, benefiting financial institutions, consumers, and the broader payments industry. Featurespace, which originated from Cambridge University, has developed advanced algorithmic solutions for analyzing transaction data to identify fraud.
Visa views the addition of Featurespace as a strategic move to improve its ability to offer adaptive and proactive fraud protection. Featurespace’s AI capabilities will complement Visa’s current offerings and allow the company to better address the evolving challenges in the payments ecosystem. Antony Cahill, Visa’s Global Head of Value-added Services, emphasized the importance of anticipating and addressing the changing threat landscape.
The integration of Featurespace will further strengthen Visa’s efforts to offer real-time fraud prevention solutions. The combined expertise of Visa and Featurespace will enable clients to better manage fraud risks and protect the payments system with more effective, AI-powered tools. This acquisition underscores Visa’s ongoing commitment to enhancing security within the payments sector.
The acquisition is expected to close in fiscal year 2025. This announcement follows Mastercard’s recent decision to acquire the threat intelligence firm Recorded Future for $2.6 billion, highlighting the increasing investment in technologies aimed at improving security and fraud detection across the financial sector.
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