Mastercard, a leading global payment technology company, recently wrapped up its second Fraud and Cyber Resilience Forum event in Accra.

The forum provided a vital platform for industry players to come together and tackle pressing cybersecurity issues.

Following the success of last year’s event, this year saw even more interest and participation from experts and professionals, all gathering to address the ever-changing cyber risks that organizations face in today’s digital world.

With cybercrime, including identity theft and phishing, on the rise, Mastercard is putting a strong focus on fraud prevention and cybersecurity worldwide, including in Ghana.

This commitment is especially crucial as Ghana experienced direct financial losses of GH¢49.5 million due to cyber fraud activities between January and June of 2023.

This highlights the urgent need for collaborative efforts to protect both the financial services industry and the government from cyber attacks.

In light of these challenges, Mastercard is not only investing in innovation and partnerships but also creating a platform for stakeholders to exchange ideas on best practices for bolstering cyber resilience in the country.

Bossman Kwapong, the Country Director for Ghana at Mastercard emphasized the need to combat cyber threats.

“In Ghana, the proliferation of digital services has brought unprecedented convenience to consumers and businesses alike. However, with this increased connectivity comes an alarming rise in cyber threats, posing significant risks to both financial institutions and their consumers.
“In light of these challenges, Mastercard recognizes the critical role it plays in fortifying Ghana’s digital infrastructure. Hosting events like the Fraud and Cyber Resilience Forum is not just a proactive measure — it’s a necessary step towards enhancing awareness, collaboration, and resilience within the Ghanaian ecosystem.”
Bossman Kwapong

Fighting Financial Fraud

The forum explored the latest tactics used by cybercriminals, their preferred targets, and the motivations driving their attacks.

Focusing primarily on the financial services sector, the event extensively analyzed the local cyber threat landscape, recent fraud cases, and successful tactics to reduce vulnerabilities that could impact business profitability.

Furthermore, Mastercard highlighted its cutting-edge fraud detection solutions, such as the Decision Intelligence system.

The system is designed to help banks and other financial institutions make real-time decisions about approving or declining transactions.

It does this by analyzing a large amount of data about each transaction, including the cardholder’s history of transactions, the merchant where the transaction is taking place, the location of the transaction, and the amount of the transaction.

This data is then fed into a machine-learning model that generates a score for each transaction. This score indicates the likelihood that the transaction is fraudulent.

Mastercard Decision Intelligence has two main parts. First is the Decision Intelligence. This is the original version of the system and uses a variety of sophisticated modeling techniques to analyze transaction data and generate a score.

The second is the Decision Intelligence Pro (DI Pro). This is a newer version of the system that uses generative AI to analyze transaction data.

Generative AI is a type of artificial intelligence that can be used to generate new data, such as text, images, or code. In the case of DI Pro, generative AI is used to create new scenarios based on the transaction data. These scenarios are then used to predict the likelihood of fraud.

Moreover, stakeholders at the event expressed a shared commitment to fostering collaboration, knowledge-sharing, and proactive measures to mitigate cyber risks within Ghana’s financial ecosystem.

The consensus reached underscored the importance of ongoing dialogue, collective action, and continued investment in robust cybersecurity infrastructure to safeguard against emerging threats.

As attendees wrapped up the event, they left with a renewed commitment to collaborate and bolster cyber resilience, fostering a secure digital future for Ghana.