MASTERCARD
The challenge with this mindset is that cybercriminals don’ t operate within national borders, industries or regulatory silos. If digital and financial systems become more regionally defined, there will be significantly more opportunities for fraudsters to exploit the seams between markets, sectors and institutions.
The answer is stronger collaboration between organisations from all sectors. No single organisation, industry or government can tackle these threats alone. To preserve trust in an increasingly multipolar world, organisations must work together across these boundaries to share intelligence, improve interoperability and strengthen resilience.
Public sector involvement is a critical part of that equation. At Mastercard, we leverage our global scale and expertise to develop deep public-private partnerships to enable interconnected, united responses to emerging threats, helping governments and businesses alike navigate complexity with confidence.
Today, we operate extensive Europeanbased payments infrastructure, work closely with European banks and fintechs and invest continuously in local capabilities. Only last October, we announced a € 250m( US $ 285m) investment in new data centres in France that will enable more transaction localisation in Europe.
We also recently opened our European Cyber Resilience Centre in Belgium, which has brought together a variety of major players across finance, telecommunications, cybersecurity and public sector partners to simulate threat scenarios and bolster collective preparedness.
Ultimately, the organisations best positioned to defend against cyber threats will be those that recognise cybersecurity as a shared responsibility. Global players must lead the way to ensure trust and interconnectedness in an era of growing fragmentation.
Q. AS DIGITISATION OF COMMERCE CONTINUES, HOW CAN CONSUMERS BE BETTER PROTECTED AGAINST FAKE MERCHANTS?
» Digital commerce has opened enormous opportunities, bringing together consumers and businesses of all sizes around the world like never before.
However, that same openness brings a change in traditional signs of trust. Consumers are increasingly buying from businesses they have never encountered before, often through digital storefronts that can look every bit as professional as those of established brands.
With payment fraud named the most significant consumer issue across the EU by the European Banking Authority in its 2024 / 2025 Consumer Trends Report, consumers are now forced to place greater scrutiny on the businesses they engage with. Trust can no longer be assumed, it must be earned and continually re-earned.
Protecting consumers in this environment requires the payments ecosystem to strengthen how it identifies legitimate businesses and spots potential risks.
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