MasterCard intends to pay $2.6 billion to acquire security data firm Recorded Future.

The financial services giant Mastercard is purchasing Recorded Future from private equity firm Insight Partners for a total of $2.6 billion.

The financial services behemoth Mastercard revealed on Thursday that it will be investing $2.6 billion to purchase Recorded Future, therefore expanding its portfolio of solutions to include Mastercard cybersecurity and threat intelligence acquisition.

The Massachusetts-based Recorded Future was previously purchased for $780 million in 2019 by the private investment firm Insight Partners. Operating as a distinct subsidiary of Mastercard, Recorded Future deal will continue to function as an independent and transparent intelligence platform, according to CEO Chris Ahlberg.

Ahlberg posted, "We will continue on this mission," on X. “Massive size, new owner, and same company. In order to enable our analysts and clients to deliver the most exquisite analysis, Recorded Future deal will keep producing intelligence on a global scale and turn it into gold utilizing the most cutting-edge AI techniques.”

An AI-supported solution that notifies financial institutions whenever a card is suspected to have been compromised is already being developed by Mastercard and Recorded Future. In comparison to the same period last year, Mastercard claims that since the service's introduction earlier this year, the number of compromised cards found has doubled. Following the anticipated closing of the transaction in the first half of 2025, Mastercard plans to intensify its usage of AI in detecting and thwarting fraudulent activity on its platforms.

To help safeguard individuals and companies, Mastercard and Recorded Future employ AI to evaluate billions of data points and spot any dangers. The company stated in a statement that by combining these resources—people, tools, and domain knowledge—they would be able to create even more resilient procedures, boost intelligence, and create synergies in Mastercard cybersecurity, all of which will reinforce the Mastercard brand as a reliable sign.

Five threat intelligence acquisition companies were involved in the 240 M&A deals revealed so far this year, according to a study done by SecurityWeek. In 2024, there were just six cybersecurity M&A deals that were made public and had a combined value of more than $1 billion.