Mastercard has agreed to acquire Canadian fintech firm Ethoca, which enables merchants and card issuers collaborate in real-time to swiftly detect and resolve fraud in digital commerce.

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Image: Ethoca to be acquired by Mastercard. Photo: courtesy of rawpixel/Pixabay.com.

Ethoca provides collaboration-based technology to help card issuers, ecommerce merchants and online businesses to boost card acceptance, prevent more fraud, recover lost revenue and remove chargebacks from fraud and customer service disputes.

Mastercard said that Ethoca’s products add to its commitment to bring in enhanced protection in the digital space while integrating with its own suite of fraud management and security products.

Currently, more than 5,000 merchants and 4,000 financial institutions across the world are part of Ethoca’s network.

Ethoca CEO Andre Edelbrock said: “Mastercard is a natural home for Ethoca. For more than a decade, we’ve connected e-commerce businesses with banks to make the payments system simpler and more secure.

“We are excited to have the opportunity to bring our services to more places and people, ultimately contributing to the best possible online payment experience.”

Mastercard said upon detection of a fraudulent transaction, information is sent to the merchant in real-time to help them decide on confirming the transaction, block delivery or reverse it altogether for preventing  the chargeback process. The company noted that merchants and card issuers benefit from lower operational costs by curbing fraud at the source,.

Mastercard plans to scale the capabilities further and combine Ethoca with its existing security activities, data insights and artificial intelligence solutions.

Mastercard cyber and intelligence solutions president Ajay Bhalla said: “Advancements in technology are enabling us to transform the experience for our customers.

“Ethoca is a strong addition to our multilayered cyber strategy, helping customers take immediate action against fraud and eliminate chargebacks before they can occur. In turn, consumers are provided with a better checkout experience every time they shop at a participating site.”

Mastercard did not reveal the financial terms of the transaction, which is expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2019.

Earlier this week, the payment processing company entered into a deal to acquire cross-border payments network provider Transfast for an undisclosed price.