Author: Daily Upsider

Mastercard has announced the development of a cutting-edge generative artificial intelligence (AI) model, designed in-house to enhance fraud detection across its extensive network of banking partners. This innovative AI tool, named Decision Intelligence Pro, aims to provide banks with the capability to more accurately evaluate suspicious activities on Mastercard’s network, facilitating real-time determinations of transaction legitimacy.

In an exclusive dialogue with CNBC, Ajay Bhalla, the president of Mastercard’s cyber and intelligence business unit, shared insights into the technology underpinning this advancement. According to Bhalla, Decision Intelligence Pro leverages a bespoke recurrent neural network, a key element of generative AI technology, meticulously crafted by Mastercard’s cybersecurity and fraud prevention teams. This model incorporates transformer models to harness generative AI’s capabilities, offering a robust solution constructed entirely in-house utilizing diverse data sources within the company’s ecosystem.

“We are using the transformer models which basically help get the power of generative AI,” Bhalla told CNBC “It’s all built in house we’ve got all kinds of data from the ecosystem. Because of the very nature of the business we are in, we see all the transaction data which comes to us from the ecosystem.”

Bhalla revealed the strategic use of open-source resources as necessary, but the bulk of the technology was developed internally. The proprietary algorithm undergoes training with data from approximately 125 billion transactions processed through Mastercard’s network each year. This vast dataset enables the AI to discern patterns between merchants, focusing on transactional relationships rather than textual analysis, to pinpoint potential fraud.

Mastercard’s algorithm uniquely assesses the likelihood of a cardholder visiting a merchant involved in a transaction, using merchant visitation history as a basis for analysis. This approach generates a predictive score through the network, akin to a heat-sensing radar, to gauge transaction authenticity within an impressive timeframe of just 50 milliseconds.

Bhalla highlighted the technology’s significant impact, with financial institutions witnessing an average fraud detection rate improvement of 20%, and in some cases, up to 300%. Over the past five years, Mastercard has allocated over $7 billion towards cybersecurity and AI technologies, including strategic acquisitions like the purchase of Swedish cybersecurity company Baffin Bay Networks in March 2023.

The company’s efforts in AI innovation parallel those of its competitors, such as Visa, which recently established a $100 million venture fund focused on generative AI startups in October 2023. Mastercard anticipates that its AI model will not only enhance fraud detection capabilities but also offer substantial cost savings for banks by reducing expenditures related to the investigation of fraudulent transactions.

Bhalla envisions the technology’s long-term potential to identify and predict emerging fraud trends within the global payment ecosystem, leveraging the comprehensive transaction data from Mastercard’s worldwide customer base. This development comes amidst a wave of AI-driven innovations in the payments and digital banking sectors, highlighted by companies like PayPal introducing new AI-based features and enhanced checkout processes.

Certain types of AI get the majority of attention, namely the Large Language Models (LLM) like ChatGPT and Grok, as well as AI art. But there is actually a whole world of AI applications and innovations that do (generally) more specific and useful tasks. We have covered some of these awesome applications such as advanced farming that could completely change monoculture farming, to a AI fire-detection system that reduced forest-fires by an amazing amount.

Overall, this is a fantastic example of AI being used for something good! Having experienced credit card fraud myself last year, I’m really glad to see Mastercard addressing this issue.

The U.S. is often seen as a hopeful nation, and recent survey results support this perception. The data reveals that 82% of Americans maintain an optimistic outlook on their personal futures, with an even larger majority—85%—expressing hope for their family’s future.

The 2024 report, “Hope in America: Visions of the Future,” conducted by the Human Flourishing Lab, a program from the Archbridge Institute, derives insights from interviews with over 2,000 U.S. adults, offering a nationally-representative perspective.

Clay Routledge, the Director of the Human Flourishing Lab and co-author of the report, points out the role of hope in individual and societal flourishing. Mental health serves as a key indicator, with 82% of respondents perceiving good mental health expressing more hope.

Routledge acknowledges the enduring presence of hope in America despite debates and divisions, underscoring the importance of monitoring mental health. The survey, conducted between October 5-9, 2023, amid challenging global events, discloses that 56% of respondents maintain hope for the future of the entire country.

The report underscores the broader benefits of a hopeful mindset, extending beyond personal achievement. It suggests that hopeful individuals can inspire others and contribute to community engagement, fostering collective efforts to address societal challenges.

To think that just 2 years ago, we were in the midst of a pandemic that was dividing the country, we’ve come a long way since then…

In January 2024, the U.S. economy experienced a significant surge in employment, adding 353,000 jobs, surpassing expectations and eclipsing the average monthly gains of 255,000 seen in 2023. This increase is a continuation of the positive trend observed in late 2022, with an upwardly revised gain of 333,000 jobs for December. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) highlighted this growth, noting that it exceeded the monthly average job gains of the previous year, indicating a robust start to 2024 for the U.S. labor market.

This remarkable job growth was widespread across various sectors, with just under two-thirds of private-sector industries contributing to the employment increase. The services sector, in particular, was a major driver of job creation, accounting for more than 80% of the total job gains in January, with significant contributions from healthcare and other service-oriented industries.

The substantial job additions in January not only demonstrate the resilience of the U.S. economy but also signal a strong labor market capable of supporting further economic growth. This employment surge aligns with the broader objectives of maintaining a healthy job market that can withstand economic fluctuations and support the Federal Reserve’s efforts in managing inflation and other monetary policy challenges