Visa to Acquire BioCatch for $2.4 Billion

Visa has agreed to acquire fraud-detection firm BioCatch for $2.4 billion in cash, adding the company’s behavioral biometrics and device intelligence to Visa’s fraud, cybersecurity and risk products. Visa plans to integrate BioCatch’s artificial intelligence and machine-learning models into its security tools to identify fraudulent activity before payments are completed.

Founded in 2011, BioCatch analyzes application, device, network and user behavior to distinguish legitimate customers from fraudsters in real time. Its systems examine thousands of signals, including keystrokes, mouse movement, touchscreen gestures, device handling and signs that a user may be acting under coercion. BioCatch says it analyzes about 19 billion online banking sessions each month and protects roughly 760 million users across 1.8 billion devices. The company serves more than 350 financial institutions in 21 countries, including over 100 of the world’s largest banks.

Visa will buy BioCatch from funds advised by private equity firm Permira and other shareholders. Permira invested in BioCatch in 2023 and acquired a majority stake in 2024 in a transaction that valued the company at $1.3 billion. The acquisition is subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions and is expected to close by the end of Visa’s fiscal second quarter of 2027.

The acquisition follows other large payments-industry purchases of cybersecurity firms. In 2024 Mastercard acquired Recorded Future for $2.65 billion, and Visa bought fraud-prevention company Featurespace the same year.

Andrew Torre, Visa’s president of value-added services, said: ‘BioCatch will help our clients stop fraud before it reaches the point of payment.’