Visa announced on Monday that it will purchase BioCatch, a company that specializes in behavioral fraud intelligence, in a cash deal valued at $2.4 billion. Visa said the acquisition is intended to enhance its cyber, fraud, risk and security capabilities and to help clients better protect transactions as threats grow more complex.
"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.
BioCatch, founded in 2011, uses behavioral signals such as keystrokes, touch gestures and device handling to distinguish legitimate users from fraudsters in real time. The company reports serving more than 350 banking clients across 21 countries and providing protection to 1.8 billion devices and 760 million users worldwide.
Industry analysts highlighted the market demand for stronger fraud defenses. "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.
Private equity firm Permira played a recent role in BioCatch’s ownership history. Permira first invested in BioCatch in 2023 and went on to acquire a majority stake in 2024 at a $1.3 billion valuation. During Permira’s ownership, BioCatch’s revenue and gross profit each expanded by roughly threefold, the company said.
The move follows a broader pattern of card networks using acquisitions to deepen fraud-prevention capabilities. Mastercard completed a $2.65 billion acquisition of Recorded Future in 2024, and Visa itself acquired payments protection firm Featurespace in the same year. Visa has also reported investing more than $13 billion in technology and infrastructure over the last five years to combat fraudsters.
Visa said the BioCatch transaction is expected to be finalized by the end of its fiscal second quarter of 2027. The company positioned the deal as part of a strategy to strengthen offerings for clients confronting sophisticated, AI-enabled threats.
Context and market implications
The acquisition brings behavioral analytics designed to detect fraudulent behavior earlier in the customer journey, potentially reducing fraud losses for banks and payment firms. The deal also underscores ongoing competition among major card networks and their partners to assemble broader suites of fraud and security tools.