Mastercard has made the latest in a series of moves to bolster its international security, in this instance targeting risks of fraudulent payments to crypto exchanges.
The payments processor has combined its own technology – specifically its crypto intelligence solution, Ciphertrace Armada – financial crime and risk management provider Feedzai’s RiskOps platform.
In a recent report, Feedzai identified cryptocurrency monitoring as a clear challenge for financial institutions, noting that around 40% of scam transactions exit directly from bank accounts to crypto exchanges.
Nuno Sebastião, CEO of Feedzai said: “Mastercard’s commitment to protecting its global customer base from fraud aligns perfectly with Feedzai’s mission. Criminals use crypto as part of their scam strategies, with the scam proceeds often ending up being funnelled to an unauthorised or otherwise risky crypto exchange.
“It also continues to remain a challenge for AML professionals as criminals become ever more sophisticated and money laundering techniques advance. This global partnership will further empower banks to protect their customers’ against the risks associated with crypto and instil further trust in the ecosystem.”
By combining respective technologies, Mastercard and Feedzai aim to offer financial institutions a means to prevent and alert customers to potentially fraudulent transactions to crypto exchanges in real time.
Countering scams and fraudulent activity has become a key area of focus for Mastercard in recent months, with the New York company having launched an AI-based solution for banks to detect and prevent fraudulent account-to-account payments.
The firm has also lent its services in this area to other financial institutions. For example, a partnership was inked earlier this month with the Saudi Awwal Bank (SAB) covering secure digital payments.
Ajay Bhalla, President of Cyber and Intelligence at Mastercard, remarked: “This is an exciting step in our journey to secure the digital ecosystem. We’re providing financial institutions with the insights they need to be able to prevent transactions involving fraudulent crypto exchanges.
“We are delighted that, through this new partnership, we are able to go further, by helping to stop fraud and payments to scams before they take place, giving customers more choice, security and, most importantly, reinforcing trust.”
