8 ways AI can help your business with fraud prevention

Big data. There really might be no bigger asset within your business right now—and it’s only going to get bigger, with data-driven AI rapidly affecting almost every aspect of the business world. The larger and more diverse the dataset, the more opportunities you have to identify fraudulent patterns.

Visa Acceptance Solutions derives valuable and actionable insights from approximately 269 billion VisaNet transactions, thereby building robust and accurate models to help our customers prevent fraud.

How can you make sure that the AI used in your business is powered by the right data? After all, quantity is meaningless if the qualities not there. A good AI model will always be built to assess the fundamental markers of data quality.

Our machine learning model can generate a highly accurate risk score for every transaction in less than a second.¹ Advanced analytics means data with high accuracy and data validated against a dependable source. Historical trend analysis means data that’s relevant and provides longitudinal insights across a span of time. And the analysis is ultra dependable: Because you’re analyzing transaction data in real time, you can help detect and prevent fraud as it happens.

Fraud is always evolving. That’s why the ability to adapt is the most crucial characteristic of the best AI systems.

Our continuous learning mechanisms, such as our constantly adapting models, are able to keep ahead of emerging threats. New data is analyzed and processed in real time, with simultaneous updates to risk models to reflect the latest trends and market conditions.

Payments can be hindered by false positives (legitimate transactions flagged as fraud) and false negatives (fraudulent transactions which go undetected).

Striking the perfect balance between these opposing behavior models is vital to help avoid friction for legitimate users and to maximize revenue. Our system is designed to do both.

Unlike other machine learning fraud tools, Identity Behavior Analysis focuses on identifying good transactions, not fraud, which makes up less than 1% of total transactions.² Instead of fixating on finding the needle in the haystack, you can focus on the 99% of your transactions that are legitimate.

Fraud prevention systems should make transactions as seamless as possible for legitimate users (preventing unnecessary holds on customers’ cards) while providing robust security.

Decision Manager from Cybersource, a part of the Visa Acceptance Solutions family, runs rules before payments are attempted and, over time, helps improve authorization rates by filtering out risky transactions. Its aim is to help you beat fraud while reducing costs across different payment channels and markets—so you can deliver the experience your customers expect.

For a truly comprehensive defense against fraud, it is wise to not rely on just one statistical algorithm. The aim is to combine several different methods to leverage each risk model’s unique strengths, and then apply the one best suited to each transaction. The next level of sophistication comes from human input—the most powerful combination is when human intelligence, AI, and machine learning work together. Read more about this here.

Our systems do not rely on just one statistical algorithm. Security measures such as two-factor authentication, biometrics, and encryption are integrated in the platform offering. We can tailor solutions to suit your exact business needs, using machine learning scientists to monitor, adjust, and update the models. Then risk consultants work to best deploy them within each particular context.

Once your AI solution is up and running, you’ll want to ensure it’s scalable so you can handle increasing transaction volumes and growing datasets without compromising performance.

We’re able to recognize payment identities effectively by tracking them over time. So your risk scoring is better targeted, and you’re more confident in accepting good orders from new customers.

Visa Acceptance Solutions takes responsible use of AI very seriously. Our in-house Model Risk Management (MRM) program performs validation of models on a regular basis, monitoring them to assess they are fit-for-purpose and performing as intended. And our stringent data governance policies help keep your customers’ data secure and protected, while our responsible AI practices help mitigate against bias in our reliable algorithms.

What kind of AI will power your fraud detection strategy? Every year, Visa enriches its sophisticated AI platform with additional transactions for greater accuracy for our customers. The opportunity is there, whether you want to streamline, optimize, or scale your business.

See how our AI-driven solutions can help strengthen your business's fight against fraud.