Every Mastercard transaction undergoes a split-second fraud assessment, with 175 billion transactions analyzed last year. Chief AI and Data Officer Greg Ulrich revealed at VB Transform 2026 that Mastercard’s risk system, once designed to block bots, is now evolving to accommodate them. This shift requires a new framework that balances security with enabling bot transactions. Mastercard’s Safety Net has already prevented over 70 billion fraudulent transactions, leveraging AI to identify 300-400% more fraud without disrupting genuine purchases. Beyond consumer fraud, AI powers a third of Mastercard’s services, driving faster growth in marketing, security, and business intelligence. Ulrich detailed five security layers—identity verification, verifiable intent, controls, execution via Mastercard Agent Pay, and intelligence monitoring—that ensure trust in agent-driven commerce. As AI agents gain autonomy in complex transactions, especially in B2B procurement, Mastercard is building scalable trust infrastructures that link multiple agents across organizations. Learning from initial models, Mastercard prioritizes embedded security and continuous monitoring to prevent vulnerabilities. Identity verification, including emerging standards for agentic identity, remains pivotal. The company is already re-engineering its AI systems to handle the new reality where bots do the buying, not just the stealing.
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