Mastercard buying RiskRecon to update its risk-monitoring arsenal

Mastercard is working to build its risk-monitoring arsenal by buying RiskRecon, which offers tools measuring threats introduced by third parties, including vendors.

The move will help Mastercard battle rising payments industry risks from large-scale data breaches and ransomware attacks that affect the broader payments ecosystem, according to a Monday press release.

Mastercard expects to close the transaction in the first quarter of 2020; financial terms were not disclosed.

Salt Lake City-based RiskRecon, launched in 2015, leverages artificial intelligence to scan public and pre-authentication information available on many companies’ systems to gauge their exposure to fraud risk, RiskRecon execs explained in a recent blog post.

Among potential threats RiskRecon flags is the risk various partners and third-party vendors could pose, according to RiskRecon’s website.

“The innovations from the talented team at RiskRecon will further accelerate our suite of cyber solutions designed to help financial institutions, merchants and governments secure their digital assets,” said Ajay Bhalla, Mastercard’s president of cyber and intelligence, in the press release.

In the last few years Mastercard has acquired several companies including Brighterion, NuData and Ethoca, each leveraging AI and data in different ways to battle fraud through various channels.