Mastercard Uses Generative AI to Double Fraud Detection Speeds

Mastercard is using generative AI to speed up fraud detection of compromised bank cards.

Scammers use a variety of tools and technologies to steal bank details including spyware, malware and techniques like card skimming — where illegal devices installed at payment points and ATMs secretly record credit card information.

Mastercard says an estimated $1 billion is lost to card skimming alone, with criminals subsequently posting stolen payment details online.

To combat fraud, Mastercard’s generative AI tool scans transaction data across billions of customer cards looking for fraud patterns, factoring in 40 security and infrastructure criteria.

Once a suspected fraudulent transaction is detected, the tool alerts Mastercard so the payment can be stopped in seconds. Further attempted transactions can then be monitored to prevent further fraud. 

Mastercard says its generative AI solution doubled detection rates of compromised cards and increased speeds it informed customers their accounts were compromised by 300%.

The tool also reduced reports of false positive reports by 200%.

“Until now fraudsters may have thought they were operating in obscurity, seeking to launder the card details of millions of unsuspecting victims,” said Johan Gerber, Mastercard’s executive vice president for security and cyber innovation. “Thanks to our world-leading cyber technology we can now piece together the jigsaw, enhancing trust to banks, their customers and the digital ecosystem as a whole,” 

Related:How AI Has Evolved at Mastercard

Mastercard says it developed the generative AI solution using capabilities obtained through its 2020 acquisition of cybersecurity firm RiskRecon.

The tool is part of Mastercard’s Cyber Secure suite of security solutions. Launched in 2020, Cyber Secure features AI tools designed to prevent account breaches by monitoring suspected compromised bank cards and merchant transactions.

Mastercard has also explored contactless cards designed to protect against attacks from quantum computers.

Visa launched a similar generative AI-powered fraud detection solution in early May. Visa’s VAAI Score Tool detects possible fraudulent payments in around four milliseconds.