Mastercard’s Fraud System Faces a New Challenge: Bots Turned Buyers

Mastercard’s Chief AI and Data Officer, Greg Ulrich, recently discussed the company’s evolving risk framework at the VB Transform 2026 event. Ulrich highlighted the importance of trust in enabling seamless transactions and the need to adapt to technological advancements for fraud prevention.

Mastercard processes an impressive 175 billion transactions annually, with each transaction being assessed for potential fraud in less than a tenth of a second. The company’s use of generative AI has significantly enhanced its ability to detect and prevent fraudulent activities without causing inconvenience to customers.

In addition to fraud prevention, Mastercard is heavily investing in AI-driven services, with approximately 40% of its business relying on AI technology. Ulrich emphasized the crucial role of trust in scaling AI capabilities and ensuring secure transactions for consumers, businesses, and financial institutions.

The company has implemented a multi-layered security approach to safeguard transactions, including identity verification, verifiable intent, controls, execution through Mastercard Agent Pay, and intelligence for risk assessment and personalized recommendations.

Looking ahead, Mastercard aims to expand its agentic commerce model beyond consumer transactions to business-to-business procurement. This shift will require a robust trust infrastructure to facilitate communication and autonomous transactions between various parties.

Mastercard is also at the forefront of adopting powerful AI models, such as Anthropic’s Mythos and OpenAI’s GPT-5.5-Cyber, to enhance security measures and detect vulnerabilities in its ecosystem. The company’s proactive approach to security includes routine scanning, severity assessment, and patch management.

Ulrich shared valuable insights gained from Mastercard’s internal development processes, emphasizing the importance of embedding security measures at the front end of product development. He highlighted the need for scalability, observability, and accountability in AI-driven solutions to ensure long-term success.

As the market shifts towards agentic identity solutions, Mastercard is actively exploring new standards for identifying and authenticating agents in transactions. The company’s focus on enhancing identity ecosystems aligns with industry trends and demands for secure and transparent digital transactions.

Overall, Mastercard’s continuous innovation in AI, security, and identity verification underscores its commitment to providing safe and seamless payment solutions for consumers and businesses worldwide. With a strong emphasis on trust and technological advancements, the company is well-positioned to lead the future of secure digital transactions.