Mastercard unveiled plans to leverage artificial intelligence (AI) in its fraud-detection systems, aiming to detect compromised cards more swiftly before they are exploited by cybercriminals.
A photo taken on March 14, 2022, shows the logo of the Mastercard payment system on a bank card in Moscow. (Photo: -/AFP via Getty Images)
Integrating AI for Advanced Fraud Detection
With its latest software update set to launch this week, Mastercard is integrating AI into its fraud-prediction technology, enabling the accelerated identification of patterns in stolen card data. This advancement is expected to facilitate proactive measures by banks, allowing them to replace compromised cards preemptively, thus bolstering overall card security.
Johan Gerber, Executive Vice President of Security and Cyber Innovation at Mastercard, highlighted the potential of Generative AI in swiftly identifying compromised credentials.
He emphasized the importance of promptly addressing such situations to ensure the security of affected individuals and other customers who may be unaware of their compromised status.
Associated Press reported that Mastercard, headquartered in Purchase, New York, asserts that with its latest update, it can expedite the identification of compromised cards by leveraging additional patterns and contextual data, including geographical location, timestamps, and addresses.
By amalgamating this information with partially compromised credit card numbers found in databases, Mastercard aims to reach affected cardholders promptly for card replacement.
Now, the patterns can be reversed, allowing for the potential identification of compromised merchants or payment processors by examining batches of flagged cards.
Gerber emphasized that this pattern recognition surpasses humans' capabilities using conventional methods such as database searches. These compromised cards could linger unnoticed for extended periods, spanning weeks, months, or even years.
Detection typically occurs when payment networks proactively scour the dark web for stolen data, merchants are alerted to a breach, or the card is utilized by a criminal, prompting payment networks and banks to recognize a potentially compromised batch of cards.
Gerber highlighted the capability to take proactive measures by contacting banks, ensuring swift service for affected consumers, and promptly issuing them new cards. This approach minimizes disruptions, allowing individuals to continue their daily lives seamlessly.
Transitioning Towards Dynamic Card Numbers
Payment networks are actively shifting away from the conventional "static" credit or debit card numbers, encompassing a universal card number and expiration date applicable across all merchants.
Instead, they are gravitating towards employing unique numbers tailored for individual transactions. However, this transition process, especially in the United States, where the adoption of payment technology tends to lag behind, could span several years.
EMVCo, the technological body overseeing chip-enabled credit and debit cards, reveals that while chip card usage accounts for over 90% of all in-person transactions globally, the adoption rate in the United States hovers around 70%.
Amidst Mastercard's latest update, its primary rival, Visa Inc., is also exploring methods to phase out the conventional 16-digit credit and debit card number.
Last week, Visa unveiled significant alterations to the operational mechanisms of credit and debit cards in the United States. This shift implies that Americans will soon carry fewer physical cards, rendering the ubiquitous 16-digit card number progressively obsolete.
