Mastercard bets on safety and digital identity with $850M Ekata deal

(Reuters) — Mastercard said on Monday it had agreed to purchase digital identity verification firm Ekata in a deal valued at $850 million, because the world payments processor bets on a whisper in interrogate for firms in the digital safety feature.

Ekata’s merchandise enable firms to separate fraudsters from real possibilities throughout digital interactions like opening an on-line account or making digital payments. It operates in three industries: e-commerce, payments and financial companies and products, fixed with its websites.

“The acceleration of on-line transactions has thrust world digital identity verification to the forefront as one of many largest alternatives to assemble digital belief and combat world fraud,” said Utilize Eleveld, chief govt officer of Ekata, in a mutter.

Seattle-headquartered Ekata counts more than 2,000 firms as its partners, including credit ranking reporting firm Equifax and instrument agency Intuit, its websites confirmed.

Its merchandise, which comprise Ekata Identification Graph and Ekata Identification Community, enable firms to combat on-line fraud, it said.

In February, Ekata said its income had surged in 2020, because the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the adoption of e-commerce, boosting interrogate for companies and products to safeguard against cyber fraud.

Ekata added 300 new possibilities closing year, including meals and grocery-offer startup Postmates, which became as soon as received by Uber Applied sciences closing year.

The payments processor said the deal is anticipated to shut in the next six months, adding that it does no longer demand the deal to be a wander on its alternate for more than two years.