Visa joins growing alarm over AI-powered risks - Reuters

Visa has publicly joined a growing alarm over risks associated with artificial intelligence in the payments ecosystem. The company said that emerging AI technologies could be misused to facilitate fraudulent activity and other threats to transaction security.

In its statement, Visa highlighted concerns that AI could enable the creation of synthetic identities, deep‑fake communications and other tools that may be leveraged by criminals to compromise payment systems. The firm emphasized the need for the industry to stay vigilant as AI capabilities evolve.

Visa’s move aligns with a broader effort by payment networks, financial institutions and regulators who have recently warned about the potential for AI‑driven attacks on the global payments infrastructure. The coordinated response reflects a shared recognition of the emerging threat landscape.

The company processes roughly a billion payments a day, representing about US$15 trillion (S$19.2 trillion) in transaction volume each year. This scale underscores the significance of safeguarding the network against AI‑related vulnerabilities.

Visa said it will collaborate with partners, technology providers and regulators to develop and implement safeguards, monitoring tools and best practices aimed at mitigating the identified AI‑powered risks.