Mastercard integrates Feedzai behavioral biometrics for fraud protection

Mastercard is partnering with Feedzai to make it easier for more banks to identify and stop scams.

Scams cost more than $1 trillion last year, according to the Global Anti-Scam Alliance (GASA) in collaboration with Feedzai, with more than 50 percent of consumers saying that they encounter a scam at least once a week (Global State of Scams Report 2024).

In light of this, Feedzai and Mastercard say they will expedite the deployment of the latter’s Consumer Fraud Risk (CFR) solution to customers. The CFR, in account-to-account payments, provides both the sending and the receiving financial institution with intelligence to help detect and prevent scams in real time. Since going live in the UK in 2023, data from the country’s Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) indicated that the value of authorized push payment (APP) scams went down by more than 12 percent.

Feedzai’s platform analyzes digital transactions, integrating device intelligence, network data, and behavioral biometrics to identify suspicious activity to prevent fraud in real time.

“In the face of [rising scams], financial institutions should consider third party data as an essential part of their strategy for fraud defense,” commented Julie Conroy, chief insights officer, Datos Insights. “By building on Mastercard’s proven CFR score and extending it globally, this partnership delivers a powerful combination – Mastercard’s global data expertise and Feedzai’s purpose-built risk scoring capabilities,” she continued.

Mastercard already offers behavioral biometrics as part of its Scam Protect service, and joined GASA last year.

Singapore banks add additional verification measure as mobile wallet scams grow

In response to an increase in scams involving mobile wallets, the Association of Banks in Singapore (ABS) says major card-issuing banks will adjust their fraud surveillance measures.

Phishing scams involving fraudulent provisioning of debit and credit cards into mobile wallets, such as Apple Pay or Google Pay. The adjustment in fraud surveillance measures have prevented $53.9 million of losses in Q4 2024, the ABS said in a statement, as quoted in The Straits Times.

By July banks will require additional verification via in-app controls or digital token authentication, to provision cards onto mobile wallets. Banks will also be more proactive in removing their cards from mobile wallets if there are indications of fraudulent activity.

In these scams, victims are fooled into providing their card details on a phishing website. They are also tricked into giving out their SMS one-time password which the scammers use to authenticate the provisioning of the card onto a mobile wallet on the scammer’s device. Once this has been done the scammer can use the mobile wallet to make unauthorized transactions.

UK PSR supports digital wallets

The UK’s Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) along with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) have engaged the Competition and Markets Authority’s (CMA) invitation to comment on its investigations in relation to Apple and Google’s mobile ecosystems.

They found that in feedback from respondents, digital wallets represent a “significant opportunity” for consumers. The majority of stakeholders highlighted that wallet users benefit from a “more seamless and efficient consumer journey.” This included enhanced authentication security measures and greater financial accessibility for underserved or excluded groups.

In addition, the proportion of card transactions using a digital wallet increased from eight percent in 2019 to 29 percent in 2023, with a higher proportion at in-store terminals.

The research highlighted the key role that digital wallets “are likely to play in future innovation and growth in the UK payments sector” as well as on wider financial services. The CMA will continue its investigation. The full letter can be read here.

Article Topics

behavioral biometrics  |  biometrics  |  digital wallets  |  Feedzai  |  Mastercard  |  Singapore  |  UK