Visa has expanded its account-to-account (A2A) fraud prevention platform with new AI-powered capabilities designed to help financial institutions detect and stop fraudulent payments before money leaves customer accounts.

The enhanced version of A2A Protect introduces a new unified fraud score, marking Visa's first in-market integration of technology from Featurespace since acquiring the fraud detection specialist in 2024. The company said the update provides faster, clearer risk signals to help banks detect more fraud while reducing unnecessary alerts.

Visa added that the launch comes as account-to-account payments continue to grow rapidly, with global A2A transactions projected to exceed 5.8 trillion by 2028, up 160 per cent from 2024.

The platform combines AI with transfer learning technology to give banks immediate access to fraud insights without waiting for models to learn from their own transaction data or for other financial institutions to join a fraud-sharing consortium. Visa said that banks that opt in can also access additional network-level signals to strengthen detection of emerging threats across the wider payments ecosystem.

For banks that choose to share network-level intelligence, A2A Protect highlights emerging scam hotspots and coordinated fraud activity that may be difficult for individual institutions to identify on their own. Visa said these insights provide an earlier view of risk and help identify scams before payment authorisation.

According to the company, A2A Protect has increased fraud detection by 75 per cent during the first six months of deployment. Visa also said the enhanced platform can reduce more than 50 per cent additional fraud while cutting unnecessary fraud alerts by over 40 per cent.

The platform integrates with existing fraud systems through a single API, reducing implementation time and complexity. Each alert includes a plain-language explanation of why a transaction has been flagged, enabling fraud teams to investigate and respond more quickly while minimising disruption for genuine customers.

James Mirfin, head of risk and security solutions at Visa, said: “Fraudsters move fast across payment types, and financial institutions need risk insights just as quickly, without slowing down legitimate payments.

“A2A Protect combines Visa's network expertise with Featurespace's technology to deliver a powerful new layer of protection that helps financial institutions detect more fraud, earlier.”

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