As fraudsters seek new ways to exploit technology, Mastercard is using generative AI to double the speed at which it can detect potentially compromised cards, further protecting cardholders and securing the ecosystem.

According to Mastercard, fraudsters steal millions of payment card numbers through spyware, malware, and other clandestine practices such as card skimming. In a bid to sell this data to other criminals, they place part of the 16-digit numbers on illegal websites. Mastercard, a world leader in cyber security, is now better able to predict the full card detail of these compromised cards on its network, enabling banks to block them far faster than previously.

“Until now fraudsters may have thought they were operating in obscurity, seeking to launder the card details of millions of unsuspecting victims. Thanks to our world-leading cyber technology we can now piece together the jigsaw – enhancing trust to banks, their customers and the digital ecosystem as a whole,” said Johan Gerber at Mastercard.

The new technology works by scanning transaction data across billions of cards and millions of merchants at faster rates than previously imaginable. In doing so it alerts Mastercard to new, complex fraud patterns. Using generative AI-based predictive technology built by Mastercard it is able to protect future transactions against emerging threats.

As a result of these enhancements, Mastercard alerts banks more quickly and with greater accuracy when a card is likely to have been compromised. The card can then be blocked and reissued. Attempted transactions on the compromised card can be continuously monitored to mitigate fraud and enhance cyber security, further instilling trust.

This latest enhancement, leveraging cutting-edge generative AI techniques, turbocharges Mastercard’s suite of security solutions. Cyber Secure, available since 2020, uses integrated technology to create a baseline of transparent cybersecurity information on bank and merchant online profiles in the payment ecosystem, including details of suspected compromised cards.