Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank has deployed Visa’s new financial-sector threat intelligence platform, becoming the first bank globally to deploy the technology and co-design its initial use cases and operational framework.
The rollout connects cyber threat information with payment fraud intelligence, giving ADIB’s security teams a broader view of incidents that may eventually lead to unauthorized transactions or financial losses. Rather than examining suspicious payments only after they appear, the system is intended to help the bank identify earlier warning signs such as compromised credentials, phishing infrastructure and attempted system exploitation.
ADIB said the platform has been incorporated into its existing fraud prevention framework and will be used by its cybersecurity, fraud and risk teams.
The deployment also reflects a broader shift in banking security, where cyber incidents and payment fraud are increasingly assessed together rather than through separate systems.
Connecting Cyber Incidents with Payment Fraud
The Visa Threat Intelligence Platform is designed specifically for financial institutions. It provides intelligence that has been assessed and contextualized for threats affecting banks, payment providers and other parts of the financial system.
Traditional fraud monitoring frequently concentrates on activity occurring during or immediately before a transaction. Threat intelligence works at an earlier stage by examining indicators that may reveal how an attack is being prepared, including malicious domains, compromised accounts, data breaches and infrastructure associated with known threat activity.
Combining those two areas may allow investigators to connect a suspicious payment with the cyber incident that preceded it. A customer’s card information, for example, may have been obtained through a phishing campaign or exposed through a compromised merchant long before an attempted transaction reaches the bank.
Visa said its platform is intended to help financial institutions identify, prioritize and analyze threats that carry financial risk. The company describes the service as part of its Visa Protect portfolio, which includes fraud detection, authentication and payment risk-management products.
ADIB Helps Shape Initial Use Cases
ADIB’s role goes beyond adopting an existing security product. The bank said it worked with Visa to co-design the platform’s initial use cases and operational framework, placing it among the first institutions involved in determining how the intelligence can be incorporated into day-to-day banking operations.
That work may include deciding how threat indicators are distributed among security teams, how suspicious activity is escalated and how cyber intelligence is matched with payment information.
Amit Malhotra, global head of retail banking at ADIB, said: “ADIB’s early adoption of the Visa Threat Intelligence Platform reflects our commitment to innovating and delivering a secure and trusted banking experience for our customers. By strengthening our ability to identify payment risks earlier and respond more effectively, we are enhancing customer protection while supporting a resilient and seamless digital banking journey.”
Salima Gutieva, Visa’s vice president and country manager for the UAE, added: “Visa’s Threat Intelligence Platform brings added depth to how we support financial institutions in the UAE, and help them strengthen resilience, protect customers, and stay ahead of emerging risks. Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank’s early adoption highlights the strong collaboration needed to advance the UAE’s vision for a secure and inclusive payments ecosystem.”
Financial Institutions Face Shifting Attack Methods
The deployment comes as banks contend with fraud methods that increasingly overlap across cybersecurity, payments and social engineering. These schemes may involve stolen credentials, fake websites, malicious software or attempts to influence customers into authorizing transactions that appear legitimate when viewed in isolation.
Visa’s Spring 2026 Biannual Threats Report said the company identified nearly $1 billion in scam-related activity between July and December 2025. Scams were the largest category of consumer payment fraud identified by Visa during that six-month period.
Many of those cases did not begin with a technical breach. Customers were instead persuaded to authorize payments after receiving messages or calls that appeared to come from banks, government bodies, businesses or other trusted organizations. Because customers may complete those transactions themselves, detecting the fraud can be more difficult than identifying a payment made with a clearly stolen card.
Cyber intelligence cannot prevent every form of authorized payment scam, but it can help banks recognize infrastructure and behavior associated with known campaigns. Information about a fraudulent domain, phishing message or compromised device could provide additional context when a transaction is reviewed.
Visa says its threat intelligence capabilities have been developed and tested within its own payments network for more than a decade. It also states that the company blocked $203 billion in attempted enumeration transactions during 2024.
Deployment Marks an Early Operational Test
ADIB’s implementation provides an early test of how Visa’s platform will function inside a commercial bank. The announcement describes the system as already integrated into ADIB’s fraud prevention framework, rather than being limited to a pilot or memorandum of understanding.
The rollout illustrates a broader change in financial security operations, with cyber incidents and payment fraud becoming increasingly interconnected. Banks are now seeking tools that allow cybersecurity specialists, fraud investigators and risk teams to work from shared intelligence rather than separate data streams.
With the platform now operating inside ADIB’s security framework, attention will turn to its real-world performance. Key measures will include earlier threat identification, quicker intervention and stronger fraud prevention without disrupting normal transactions.
