Visa Debuts AI-Powered Fraud Fighting Tools

Visa has introduced a new suite of security services designed to protect merchants and users from the latest security threats, according to a release.

The new features are meant to help stop and contain payment fraud and to protect the payments ecosystem. There will be no cost for Visa clients; the company said it is one of the many benefits available to Visa merchants and financial institutions.

“Cybercriminals attempt to bypass traditional defenses by stealing credentials, harvesting data, obtaining privileged access and attacking trusted third-party supply chains,” said RL Prasad, senior vice president of payments systems risk for Visa. “Visa’s new payment security capabilities combine payment and cyber intelligence, insights and learnings from breach investigations, and law enforcement engagement to help financial institutions and merchants solve the most critical security challenges.”

Enumeration attacks, one of the most common types, is when ATMs are exploited to release money fraudulently. Another attack is the card-not-present fraud that affects eCommerce, phone and mail orders. Although the latter is not as common, it is responsible for 40 percent of fraud losses as well as operational costs.

Visa noted that its newest security aids help to maintain trust in the payments system. Visa Vital Signs, for example, actively monitors transactions and alerts institutions of potentially fraudulent activity at ATMs. Visa will react either automatically or in tandem with clients to stop the activity or take action.

The Visa Account Attack Intelligence feature uses deep learning to process card-not-present transactions to pinpoint when hackers are trying to guess numbers, expiration dates or security codes through automated programs.

The Visa Payment Threats Lab will test clients’ processing and configuration settings for potential vulnerabilities and ensure they are using security technology in the most efficient way.

Another security feature introduced is Visa eCommerce Threat Disruption, which scans eCommerce websites for malicious payment data skimming software.

All of the new features complement Visa’s Payment Threat Intelligence, which provides reports, analysis and information about potential threats and fraud.