Episode 049 - A Discussion with Johan Gerber, EVP of Security and Cyber Innovation at Mastercard

Kate Pohl and Steven Batiste had the pleasure of interviewing Johan Gerber, EVP of Security and Cyber Innovation at Mastercard. Johan began by giving us a view on the enormous issues and costs surrounding Cybercrime, a $10.5 trillion “business” today! Mastercard is doing its part by spending over $1 BLN pa to reduce vulnerability e.g., by looking at 500 fields in less than 10 milliseconds for over 110 bln transactions a year. This, in turn, results in stopping $30BLN in attempted fraud pa! He stated that the entire financial services Industry – and the internet with its 5 bln users- will always be a target for cybercrime. “Digital First has become Digital by Default,” explained Johan, “we can no longer live without it!” Innovation was literally forced upon us by the pandemic i.e., the crisis was a catalyst. New technologies such as behavioral biometrics are helping to increase both convenience and safety! The effort to reduce fraud and cybercrime must, however, transcend national boundaries as well as local efforts and become global. Can “intelligent” friction actually be extremely effective? Does Johan believe in cooperation with fintechs? How can we solve the issue of bias in algorithms… and is this important? Join us as we find out more about how “Life begins at the end of your comfort Zone!” --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/steven-batiste/support