SAN FRANCISCO (dpa-AFX) - Payment technology major Visa inc. (V) announced Monday a definitive agreement to acquire BioCatch, a provider of behavioral-first fraud intelligence solutions, from funds advised by Permira and other shareholders for $2.4 billion in cash.
In pre-market activity, Visa shares were gaining around 1.38 percent, trading at $371.21.
The acquisition is expected to close by the end of Visa's fiscal second quarter of 2027, subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals.
The transaction will provide significant benefits to its financial institution clients, consumers and the wider payments industry.
BioCatch develops artificial intelligence and machine learning-based solutions that analyze thousands of application, behavioral, device, and network signals-including keystrokes, touch gestures, and device handling-to detect fraud in real time. The company currently protects 1.8 billion devices and 760 million users globally, serving more than 350 banking clients across 21 countries, including more than 100 of the largest banks worldwide.
The acquisition complements Visa's existing cyber, fraud, risk and security solutions. It is designed to help financial institutions better protect themselves and their customers from account takeovers, scams, money mules and application fraud. Account takeovers and scams cost the global economy over $1 trillion annually, according to the company.
Andrew Torre, president of value-added services at Visa, stated that the acquisition supports the company's strategy to help clients prevent cyber threats upstream. 'BioCatch will help our clients stop fraud before it reaches the point of payment,' Torre said. 'This acquisition is part of our strategy to help clients prevent cyber threats upstream, building trust into every transaction.'
BioCatch CEO Gadi Mazor highlighted the importance of behavioral intelligence for digital banking security. 'Real-time insights into customer intent continue to grow increasingly essential for institutions to establish trust within digital banking sessions,' Mazor said. 'For more than a decade, we've demonstrated behavior's unique ability to distinguish the criminal from the legitimate.'
Over the last five years, Visa has invested more than $13 billion in technology and infrastructure to safeguard the payments ecosystem and reduce fraud rates.
The company has also developed the Visa Vulnerability Agentic Harness, an open-source artificial intelligence security tool designed to help clients identify and remediate vulnerabilities at scale.
Copyright(c) 2026 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
© 2026 AFX News
