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In an exclusive interview with VentureBeat, Don Hobson, Chief Information Officer at Visa, recently shared his vision for how generative AI will revolutionize the global payments landscape. As a pioneer in AI-driven fraud protection, Visa is now fully embracing the transformative potential of this groundbreaking technology.
“Many people may not realize that Visa has been using AI to protect payments since 1993. Today, we are all in on generative AI and its potential to have a profound impact on commerce and the payments experience,” Hobson explained. The company’s commitment to generative AI is evident in its recent moves, including launching a secure instance of GPT-4 for developers and investing $100 million in a generative AI ventures initiative.
Hobson emphasized the critical role of data in the successful deployment of generative AI, noting that, “Data protection and privacy continue to be key priorities at Visa, and we believe proactively considering privacy in products and services is key to the future of responsible innovation and economic growth.”
Talent acquisition is another crucial aspect of Visa’s strategy, with Hobson telling VentureBeat, “We recognize that a lack of specialized talent and expertise in the financial services space could pose challenges to the development and deployment of gen AI solutions. Therefore, we are actively working on attracting and retaining the necessary talent to continue driving our gen AI initiatives forward.”
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Enhancing fraud detection and risk management
Visa is exploring the use of generative AI to bolster its already robust fraud detection and risk management capabilities. “As we look to the future, gen AI’s capacity to process and learn from vast amounts of data could significantly enhance our fraud models. By leveraging better insights, we are exploring how to further bolster our fraud detection capabilities,” Hobson explained.
The potential for generative AI to create more personalized and context-aware financial services is another area of focus for Visa. “Gen AI can also be used to develop more human-like chatbots, offering personalized 24/7 customer support, and to introduce a more conversational approach to everyday banking interactions,” Hobson said.
When it comes to promoting financial inclusion, Hobson believes that generative AI can help deliver greater access to financial services across the world. “At Visa, we believe gen AI can help deliver greater financial inclusion across the world. It has the power to automate and streamline processes, reducing costs and making it feasible for financial institutions to serve more people in more places,” he stated.
Visa recognizes the importance of responsible and ethical deployment of generative AI in the financial sector. “We’re working with regulators, policymakers, industry partners and other stakeholders to promote trustworthy, responsible AI innovation, especially in the financial sector,” Hobson said. The company’s participation in initiatives such as the U.S. AI Safety Institute Consortium demonstrates its commitment to developing and promoting practices that build trust in AI innovation.
A transformative moment in the payments industry
Looking ahead, Hobson envisions generative AI playing a significant role in the payments industry over the next five to 10 years. “Technological innovations in biometric and neural payment interfaces will rapidly remove some of the friction of payments for customers and reduce risk for businesses in an attempt to stay ahead of fraud. Generative AI could play a role here for consumers as these innovations give rise to new options in payment choice,” he explained.
Hobson concluded the interview with a powerful statement: “The arrival of generative AI technology is a transformative moment in human history, like the industrial revolution or the invention of the internet. It’s a paradigm shift that redefines the boundaries of creativity and innovation. Now that we can generate realistic data-driven responses using large language models while ingesting and operating against complex data patterns – resulting in real-time and user-friendly answers to normal or multifaceted questions – there is a potential to innovate at a scale never before seen.”
As one of the world’s largest payment technology companies, Visa’s embrace of generative AI is a strong indicator of the technology’s transformative potential. With its focus on responsible innovation, data privacy, and collaboration with key stakeholders, Visa is well-positioned to lead the charge in leveraging generative AI to create a more efficient, secure, and inclusive payments ecosystem. Under Hobson’s leadership, Visa is poised to be at the forefront of this technological revolution, paving the way for a more connected, secure, and inclusive financial world.
