Visa Shells Out $2.4B for Cybersecurity Firm BioCatch Amid AI-Powered Bot Attack Surge

Visa has acquired Tel Aviv-based cybersecurity company BioCatch for $2.4 billion in cash, expanding its services to bolster against AI-powered bot attacks. The acquisition aligns with Visa's strategy to strengthen its offerings and proactively prevent fraud. As of the writing, V stock was up 2%.

BioCatch primarily focuses on preventing fraud and financial crime by recognizing patterns in human behavior through AI and machine-learning models. This allows banks to distinguish criminal activity from legitimate transactions in real time.

According to a study by Thales Group, AI-driven bot attacks surged 12.5 times in 2025. Bots dominate the internet, accounting for over half of all traffic, with 40% classified as malicious. 'Account takeovers and scams cost the global economy over $1 trillion annually, and AI is enabling these attacks at unprecedented scale,' said Andrew Torre, president of value-added services at Visa.

The acquisition will bring under its fold more than BioCatch's 350+ banking clients in 21 different countries, thereby expanding Visa's global footprint. The deal will also 'provide significant benefits to its financial institution clients, consumers, and the wider payments industry' when it closes by the end of the second quarter of 2027.