Marqeta, a US-based card issuing platform listed on Nasdaq, has announced the improvement of its Real-Time Decisioning (RTD) offering with an AI-powered risk score that evaluates transaction risk at the point of authorisation.
According to the official press release, the capability is integrated into Marqeta's platform and analyses proprietary transaction data from its card programmes to detect risk patterns specific to each customer's use cases.
The risk score evaluates more than 300 real-time transaction attributes against historical behavioural patterns, automatically adapting to individual cardholder behaviour and market shifts. The system delivers responses at substantial speed, enabling customers to assess risk, take immediate action, and model risk scenarios based on their actual cardholder data. The RTD offering allows customers to create custom rules and controls to manage fraud alongside the AI-powered scoring layer.
Fraud landscape and platform context
Global payment fraud is projected to rise by 153% between 2025 and 2030, increasing the pressure on card issuers and programme managers to deploy detection models capable of identifying new fraud patterns as they emerge rather than relying solely on historical rule sets. Marqeta's integration of machine learning into the authorisation process is designed to continuously identify evolving fraud patterns and adapt to emerging threats without requiring manual rule updates.
The AI risk score forms part of Marqeta's RiskControl suite, which also includes Know Your Customer verification, 3D Secure, and end-to-end disputes management.
Commenting on the news, Anthony Peculic, Marqeta's Interim Chief Product Officer, said fraud threats are evolving faster than ever, requiring businesses to maintain pace as they scale their card programmes, and that embedding AI-powered controls into the authorisation process enables customers to expand their programmes while strengthening fraud defence.
In addition to this latest move, back in November 2025, Marqeta teamed up with Klarna to offer the Klarna Card across 15 new European markets. The launch came as an expansion of Marqeta's long-term collaboration with Klarna and leverages Visa's Flexible Credential (VFC) technology, enabling customers to choose between paying now or later, through a debit card experience.
