Visa is spending $2.4 billion to acquire BioCatch, betting that the next big fight in payments will begin well before a customer presses the transfer button.
The companies have signed a definitive agreement covering an all-cash purchase from funds advised by Permira and other BioCatch shareholders. The transaction remains subject to regulatory approval and is expected to close by the end of Visa’s second fiscal quarter of 2027.
BioCatch will become part of Visa’s value-added services business. Its existing leadership team, including chief executive Gadi Mazor, is expected to remain in place.
Visa Wants to Stop Fraud Before the Payment Happens
Payment networks have spent years improving their ability to identify suspicious card transactions. BioCatch tackles the problem earlier.
Its technology studies how somebody behaves during a digital banking session. That can include typing patterns, mouse movements, touchscreen gestures, device handling and signs that a customer may be acting under pressure.
The aim is not simply to check whether a password or device is correct. BioCatch tries to work out whether the person using the account is behaving like its legitimate owner.
That difference matters when criminals have already stolen login details or convinced a real customer to send money.
Visa said the acquisition will strengthen its ability to detect account takeovers, scams, money-mule activity and application fraud before funds begin moving.
BioCatch Brings Behavioural Biometrics Into Visa
BioCatch was founded in 2011 and has built its business around behavioural and device intelligence.
The company’s systems collect more than 3,000 anonymised signals during online banking sessions. Its machine-learning models then assess those signals in real time, looking for unusual behaviour, automated activity, manipulated devices or signs of social engineering.
BioCatch currently protects around 760 million users across 1.8 billion devices. More than 350 financial institutions use its technology in 21 countries, including over 100 of the world’s largest banks.
That gives Visa more than a software platform. It gives the payments company access to a large fraud-intelligence network built from billions of digital interactions.
BioCatch analyses roughly 19 billion user sessions each month, according to Visa.
The Deal Expands Visa Beyond Transaction Security
Visa has traditionally sat close to the moment when a payment is authorised. The BioCatch acquisition pushes its security business further upstream.
A fraudster may spend several minutes navigating an account before attempting a payment. A victim of an investment scam may log in using the correct device, password and authentication code. Standard security checks can struggle in those situations because nothing appears technically broken.
Behavioural data can reveal something else.
The customer may be moving through the banking app differently, copying account information into unfamiliar fields or receiving instructions from somebody over the phone. None of those signals proves fraud on its own. Together, they can create a much clearer warning.
Andrew Torre, Visa’s president of value-added services, said BioCatch would help clients stop fraud before it reaches the payment stage. Visa estimates that account takeovers and scams cost the global economy more than $1 trillion annually, with artificial intelligence making such attacks easier to scale.
Visa Continues Spending on Fraud Prevention
The BioCatch deal is part of a much wider investment programme.
Visa said it has spent more than $13 billion on technology and infrastructure during the past five years to protect its payments network and help financial institutions reduce fraud.
Its security portfolio already includes tools covering authentication, cyber defence, risk management and transaction monitoring.
Visa also acquired UK fraud-detection company Featurespace in a deal completed after an agreement valued at approximately $946 million in 2024. That purchase added adaptive artificial intelligence designed to identify suspicious payments and financial crime patterns.
BioCatch fills another part of the picture. Featurespace can examine transactional activity, while BioCatch brings a deeper view of behaviour before and during a banking session.
Visa is effectively building security around the entire customer journey, from account opening to login, navigation and payment.
BioCatch Leadership Will Stay With the Business
BioCatch is expected to operate inside Visa’s value-added services division following completion of the transaction.
The company’s leadership team will remain in their current positions, according to FinTech Futures. That should give Visa some continuity as it integrates a specialised fraud platform used by hundreds of banks.
Mazor said real-time insight into customer intent is becoming increasingly important as financial institutions try to establish trust during digital banking sessions.
Joining Visa gives BioCatch a much larger distribution network. Visa works with approximately 14,500 financial institutions, creating room to introduce BioCatch technology to banks that may not currently use behavioural biometrics.
Behaviour Is Becoming Part of Digital Identity
Passwords, one-time codes and facial scans still matter. They are no longer enough on their own.
Criminals can steal credentials, hijack devices or persuade legitimate account holders to complete transactions for them. Generative AI can also help fraud groups write convincing messages, automate conversations and impersonate trusted organisations at greater scale.
That has forced banks to ask a more complicated question.
Not just: “Is this the right person?”
But: “Does this activity make sense for this person?”
Visa’s purchase of BioCatch shows how quickly that question is moving into the centre of payments security. The deal is expensive, but so is fraud that looks completely legitimate until the money is gone.
Sources
- FinTech Futures – Visa to acquire behavioural biometrics fintech BioCatch in $2.4bn deal
- Visa – Visa to Acquire BioCatch
- BioCatch – Press Releases and Company News