As digitisation continues to permeate into nearly every aspect of our daily lives, Ajay Bhalla, president of Mastercard’ Cyber and Intelligence Solutions explains that there are several mega trends contributing to the rise in cybercrime, including rapid digitisation, unprecedented connectivity, as well as the exponential growth of data.
He adds, “Mastercard employs a multi-layered security strategy with four layers in which if one layer encounters a failure, the subsequent layer seamlessly takes over. We scrutinise transactions from multiple angles, including observing unusual shopping habits, preferences, and locations. This thorough analysis enables the identification, detection, and prevention of cybercrime.”
As Mastercard incorporates cutting-edge technologies behind the scenes, it is the very reason why consumers can shop seamlessly as well as feel reassuringly secure.
In fact, in the past five years, Mastercard has invested over $7 billion in their cyber security capabilities, alongside multiple acquisitions.
“We have bought seven companies in this space which have helped us to create and fast track many of these solutions and have also invested and contributed to the launch of more than 20 cyber security start-ups,” he says, with the recent acquisition of European based AI security firm, Baffin Bay, with whom Mastercard has merged existing data and AI capabilities to create an AI cyber shield solution to prevent customer breaches.
“In today’s world with the kind of data that we see, AI is absolute critical component of our cybersecurity strategy.”
Biometrics strikes the right balance
According to Bhalla, security has always been imperative to Mastercard long before the cyber threats of today came into existence. The challenge with the previous older style of security was consumers had to create hard-to-remember passwords along with other complicated methods which he says ultimately made consumers feel even more insecure because it was clunky as well as inconvenient.
“Our aim is to have convenience and security work hand-in-hand, and biometrics is an essential tool for us to make payments simple, safe and intuitive.” Mastercard has implemented behavioural biometrics capabilities, encompassing facets such as typing styles as well as how you hold your phone. This innovative technology discerns the authenticity of consumers, distinguishing between genuine users and bots.
Ensuring digital continuity within a safe and seamless customer experience, contactless payments now make up 63 percent of Mastercard’s global in-person purchases. Beyond replicating a local marketplace ambience within ecommerce, Mastercard prioritises security. Mastercard simplifies the user experience by eliminating the need for consumers to repeatedly reintroduce themselves to online businesses, says Bhalla, and once approved, the journey remains consistently seamless.
Mastercard’s AI applications
According to Bhalla, artificial intelligence is the most defining technology of our time, especially with its ability to redefine processes as well as increase productivity with speed and accuracy.
He explains, “Mastercard is harnessing AI to build trust in the digital economy, and it is embedded in almost everything we do in our cyber and intelligence area. We have spent years really refining how we implement our AI technology to create a stunning consumer experience that is both safe and secure. Very early on, Mastercard acquired ‘Brighterion’, California based company which specialises in risk management technologies in AI.
“We also have ‘Safety Net’ which predicts cyber-attacks at banks and actually prevented over $20 billion of fraud in the past 12 months because of the sophisticated AI that it uses,” he says. “Very recently in the UK, launched our Consumer Fraud Risk solution to predict real time account to account payments unintentionally being paid to scams, an immense global problem that runs into billions of dollars.”
Backed by AI technology, this solution is on track to save UK banks over $100 million in fraud each year. Mastercard is also using AI technology across its resiliency solutions, ensuring uninterrupted service to cardholders in the event their bank is attacked or faces a disruption.
Additionally, Mastercard is spearheading innovation by integrating generative AI across its operations, employing it to generate synthetic fraud transactions to predict weaknesses in existing systems, says Bhalla.
“We are using it to create anti-money laundering reports and also for customer service solutions,” he says, so Mastercard is embedding generative AI in many of their solutions to provide an intuitive customer journey as well as for fraud, fraud prevention and for cyber-attacks. “We believe that generative AI is going to create the next generation of payment experiences for the customer.”
According to Bhalla, artificial intelligence is the most defining technology of our time, especially with its ability to redefine processes as well as increase productivity with speed and accuracy. He explains, “Mastercard is harnessing AI to build trust in the digital economy, and it is embedded in almost everything we do in our cyber and intelligence area. We have spent years really refining how we implement our AI technology to create a stunning consumer experience that is both safe and secure. Very early on, Mastercard acquired ‘Brighterion’, California based company which specialises in risk management technologies in AI.
“We also have ‘Safety Net’ which predicts cyber-attacks at banks and actually prevented over $20 billion of fraud in the past 12 months because of the sophisticated AI that it uses,” he says. “Very recently in the UK, launched our Consumer Fraud Risk solution to predict real time account to account payments unintentionally being paid to scams, an immense global problem that runs into billions of dollars.”
Backed by AI technology, this solution is on track to save UK banks over $100 million in fraud each year. Mastercard is also using AI technology across its resiliency solutions, ensuring uninterrupted service to cardholders in the event their bank is attacked or faces a disruption.
Additionally, Mastercard is spearheading innovation by integrating generative AI across its operations, employing it to generate synthetic fraud transactions to predict weaknesses in existing systems, says Bhalla.
“We are using it to create anti-money laundering reports and also for customer service solutions,” he says, so Mastercard is embedding generative AI in many of their solutions to provide an intuitive customer journey as well as for fraud, fraud prevention and for cyber-attacks. “We believe that generative AI is going to create the next generation of payment experiences for the customer.”
The importance of digital identity solutions
Mastercard’s mission with blockchain and digital assets is to help empower people, businesses, and governments to better understand and trust how these technologies can be used. While Mastercard benefits from its unique vantage point due to its extensive scale and reach, Bhalla points out that irrespective of how people pay, they will always require a trusted partner to secure these platforms and also to establish clear rules.
“Last year, we launched Crypto Secure, a solution for banks to provide secure crypto trading capabilities which enabled banks to accurately identify exchanges across an ecosystem of over 2,400 providers,” he says.
Mastercard is helping to create a secure ecosystem with biometrics, which is already used and trusted by billions. “When we open our phones, we are using biometrics, so whether paying from your watch, laptop, mobile or other, the experience should be seamless for the entire journey.”
Mastercard’s research demonstrated that over 70 percent of consumers already use biometrics and find it safe, simple, and trustworthy. “Our goal is to embed it in all the technologies because it creates a seamless user experience.”
Building a trusted roadmap of digital payment solutions
In today’s digital landscape, Bhalla explains that globally, organisations are strategically moving their operations online. “Very clearly, these technologies can be a trusted roadmap to control cyber problems and fraud.” Securing digital interactions is critical, and digital identity plays a vital role with this. “So, whether through biometrics, device authentication, or other means, ensuring the safety of the digital ecommerce ecosystem is crucial.”
Mastercard’s sustainability efforts
Mastercard has entered the recycling realm with a global programme enabling people to dispose of expired cards sustainably and securely. It’s first partnership is with HSBC in the UK. With this, cardholders’ can safely dispose of their expired cards in dedicated collection boxes, where the cards are shredded, and their chips are destroyed to protect sensitive information.
In fact, Mastercard has been a champion within the realm of sustainability in multiple ways. “Key to this is our Sustainable Card Programme which has signed up over 470 institutions across 90 countries,” explains Bhalla, in addition to over 340 million recycled and biomaterial cards which are now in use across their network.
He adds, “This year, we have accelerated our efforts by announcing that by January 2028, all newly produced Mastercard payment cards will be made with more sustainable materials with a vision that every card will move to these bio-sourced materials within the next five years.”
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