Mastercard has launched a new AI solutions platform aimed at helping businesses to leverage such technology in their own operations and services.
Called “AI Express”, the platform is primarily aimed at digital security in financial services – not building robots or anything like that. In announcing the platform, Mastercard highlighted more banal applications such as credit risk prediction, anti-money laundering, and fraud risk mitigation.
With plenty of AI specialists now offering their own particular solutions for the financial services sector, one may wonder why Mastercard, a company that is mostly associated with credit cards, would be trusted for these kinds of services. But AI Express is the product of Mastercard’s acquisition of a bona fide AI specialist, Brighterion, undertaken last summer; and before that the company acquired NuData, a specialist in the related field of behavioral biometrics. These acquisitions brought real technological expertise into Mastercard’s corporate umbrella, and the company is now well-positioned to leverage it on behalf of financial services clients.
Summarizing the rationale behind AI Express in a statement, Mastercard Chief Security Solutions Officer Ajay Bhalla said, “For companies looking to take advantage of the technology today, AI Express offers quick results along with the know-how to move forward with a full-fledged artificial intelligence deployment.”
On a broader scale, the launch of AI Express can be seen as a response to the growing digitization of the financial services industry, with fraud increasingly moving into the online space, and new AI tools emerging to fight it. So as jarring as Mastercard’s move into providing AI services may seem at first glance, it’s a natural adaptation to changes in its business environment and that of its partners.
Follow Us