Mastercard, Infosys Infuse AI to Secure and Transform Global Payments

In a significant move to reshape the landscape of international finance, payments giant Mastercard and global technology consulting firm Infosys have joined forces to simplify and enhance cross-border payments for financial institutions worldwide. The strategic collaboration will provide banks and other financial entities with streamlined access to Mastercard Move, a comprehensive suite of money movement services. This partnership aims to dismantle long-standing barriers in international transactions, making them faster, more secure, and more efficient for a globalized world. At the heart of this collaboration is the integration of Mastercard Move with Infosys Finacle, the digital banking solution suite from Infosys's subsidiary, EdgeVerve Systems. This technical synergy is designed to drastically cut down the traditionally lengthy and resource-heavy onboarding process for financial institutions, offering an efficient pathway to sophisticated payment capabilities.

The core of the collaboration is centered on Mastercard Move, a portfolio of solutions that facilitates payments across more than 200 countries and over 150 currencies, reaching more than 95 percent of the world's banked population.[1][2] By integrating these extensive capabilities directly into the Infosys Finacle platform, the partnership provides banks with a more accessible and agile way to offer their customers advanced cross-border payment services.[3][4] This pre-integrated solution allows financial institutions to bypass complex, bespoke integration projects, which typically require significant time and financial investment.[5][6] The result is a quicker path to market for banks looking to upgrade their international payment offerings and meet the growing demand for seamless, near real-time transactions. This is particularly relevant given the continued growth in global remittances, with Asia, for instance, accounting for nearly half of all global inflows in 2024.[3][7] For customers, this translates into a more reliable and transparent payment experience, while for the financial institutions, it promises enhanced control over risk, operational costs, and liquidity management.[2][8]

A pivotal, though less explicit, dimension of this partnership lies in the application of artificial intelligence to create a more secure and intelligent payment ecosystem.[9] The collaboration aligns with Infosys's broader corporate strategy focused on AI-driven digital transformation and its "AI-first core."[6][10] While the initial announcements focus on the mechanical ease of integration, the underlying technologies from both companies point to a future where AI is central to managing the complexities of international finance. Infosys Finacle's recently launched Data and AI Suite, part of the Infosys Topaz offering, empowers banks to build and deploy their own AI models for various needs.[11][4] This suite includes a no-code, generative AI-driven approach and pre-trained models, allowing for the rapid creation of solutions that can be applied to everything from customer service to risk analysis.[11][4] This inherent AI readiness within the Finacle platform suggests that banks adopting the integrated solution will be better positioned to leverage AI for their cross-border operations.

The implications of infusing advanced AI into this payment channel are profound, particularly in the critical areas of security and compliance.[9] Mastercard has been aggressively deploying AI, including generative AI, in its own network to combat fraud, doubling its detection rate for compromised cards and increasing the speed of identifying at-risk merchants by 300%.[12][13] The company's AI-powered tools are designed to analyze vast transaction data in real-time to identify complex fraud patterns and score the risk level of a given transaction.[3][14] By integrating Mastercard Move with an AI-ready platform like Infosys Finacle, the partnership is poised to deliver a solution with embedded, AI-driven risk management.[9] This allows for real-time monitoring of transactions to detect and prevent illicit activities such as money laundering, a significant challenge in the cross-border arena.[9][3] This automated compliance and fraud detection capability not only secures the transaction process but also helps financial institutions navigate the labyrinth of international regulations more efficiently.[5]

Ultimately, the collaboration between Mastercard and Infosys is more than a simple technology integration; it represents a strategic response to the evolving demands of the global economy.[9] As businesses and consumers increasingly expect the speed, security, and transparency of domestic payments in their international transactions, the financial industry is under pressure to modernize its legacy infrastructure.[2][14] This partnership addresses that need by combining Mastercard's vast payment network with Infosys's digital banking and AI expertise. It signifies a broader trend of strategic alliances between financial services incumbents and technology firms to drive innovation.[12] By creating a solution that is not only efficient to implement but also intelligent and secure, Mastercard and Infosys are setting a new benchmark for the future of cross-border payments, where artificial intelligence will be a cornerstone of trust and efficiency in the global financial system.