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Mastercard today announced it has entered into an agreement to acquire Ethoca, a global provider of technology solutions that help merchants and card issuers collaborate in real-time to quickly identify and resolve fraud in digital commerce.

The Ethoca suite of products adds to Mastercard’s commitment to drive greater protection in the digital space, integrating with its robust suite of fraud management and security products.

Today, the Ethoca network brings together more than 5,000 merchants and 4,000 financial institutions around the world. When a fraudulent transaction is identified, near real-time information is sent to the merchant so they can confirm the transaction, stop delivery or reverse the transaction to avoid the chargeback process.  As a result, both merchants and card issuers benefit from lower operational costs by reducing fraud at the source.

Mastercard intends to further scale these capabilities and combine Ethoca with its current security activities, data insights and artificial intelligence solutions to help merchants and card issuers more easily identify and stop potentially fraudulent purchases and false declines.

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

According to Juniper Research, retailers are expected to lose $130 billion in online fraud over the next five years. In addition, research firm Aite Group estimates that false declines – when card issuers decline transactions from good customers due to a perceived fraud risk – cost the industry $331 billion in 2018 in the U.S. alone.

“Mastercard is a natural home for Ethoca,” said Andre Edelbrock, CEO of 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.”

Terms of the agreement were not disclosed and the transaction is anticipated to close in the second quarter of 2019.