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Mastercard Inc. is adding another arrow of digital-security technology in its cybersecurity quiver with the acquisition of Baffin Bay Networks, a Sweden-based cybersecurity company.
Payments companies constantly need advanced ways to counter fraud because criminals are relentless. In fact, credit card fraud accounted for 6.2% of digital fraud in 2020, a 76% increase in volume from 2019, found TransUnion’s recent “2023 State of Omnichannel Fraud Report.”
Mastercard says the Baffin Bay Networks acquisition—terms of of which were not disclosed—will become part of a single service to its customers across the globe. Baffin Bay Networks’ RiskRecon data analytics enables users to identify vulnerabilities in advance, Mastercard says. Part of the firm’s distinction is that it taps data feeds from more than 1,500 sources that are monitored around the clock.
“The addition of Baffin Bay Network’s instantaneous, predictive, and cloud-based AI technology to our existing analytical capabilities will deliver a leading, singular cyber solution,” said Ajay Bhalla, Mastercard president of cyber and intelligence, in a statement.
Baffin Bay Networks, which launched in 2016, also offers its Threat Protection service, which can help prevent attackers from penetrating or taking down digital systems, Mastercard says.
The acquisition is the latest in a series of moves by the card network to bolster its anti-fraud and security measures. In 2022, it began working with Microsoft Corp. to use artificial intelligence to help with real-time fraud detection. Earlier, Mastercard acquired CipherTrace Inc., a specialist in technology to combat money laundering and other crimes involving digital-currency transactions.
