Visa to Acquire Israeli Fraud Detection Firm BioCatch for $2.4 Billion
Payments giant bets on behavioral biometrics and AI as financial fraud surges worldwide
Photo: BioCatch
Visa has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Israeli-founded fraud prevention company BioCatch for $2.4 billion in cash, strengthening its portfolio of AI-powered cybersecurity and fraud detection technologies amid a sharp rise in digital financial crime.
The acquisition is aimed at helping banks and financial institutions stop fraud before money ever moves. BioCatch specializes in behavioral intelligence, using AI and machine learning to analyze thousands of signals—including typing patterns, touch gestures, device behavior and network activity—to distinguish legitimate users from fraudsters in real time.
The company's technology is designed to detect threats such as account takeovers, scams, money mule activity and fraudulent account applications. Today, BioCatch protects more than 760 million users across 1.8 billion devices and serves over 350 financial institutions in 21 countries, including more than 100 of the world's largest banks.
"Account takeovers and scams cost the global economy over $1 trillion annually, and AI is enabling these attacks at unprecedented scale," said Andrew Torre, President of Value-Added Services at Visa. "BioCatch will help our clients stop fraud before it reaches the point of payment."
The deal reflects Visa's broader strategy of expanding beyond payment processing into cybersecurity, identity verification and fraud prevention. Over the past five years, the company has invested more than $13 billion in technology and infrastructure to strengthen the security of the global payments ecosystem.
BioCatch CEO Gadi Mazor said combining the company's behavioral intelligence platform with Visa's global reach will accelerate its mission of combating financial crime. He noted that BioCatch's technology not only identifies suspicious user behavior in real time but also enables participating financial institutions to share fraud intelligence, improving detection across the network.
The acquisition remains subject to regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions and is expected to close by the end of Visa's fiscal second quarter of 2027.