Visa (V), GM Sectec Bolster Partnership to Boost Cybersecurity

Visa Inc. V recently extended its partnership with GM Sectec to intensify cybersecurity. The partnership is expected to facilitate fraud prevention and boost cyber defense in the Latin America (LatAm) and Caribbean regions.

Per the latest deal, GM Sectec is expected to provide payment and risk management services in collaboration with Visa’s Cybersource solution. With the rise in demand for digital payment services in the LatAm and Caribbean area, triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic, the need for cybersecurity has significantly increased. As such, the latest partnership between Visa and GM Sectec will likely facilitate secured digital transactions.

Small and medium-sized businesses are gaining strength in the LatAm region, which has a growing economy. Digital contactless payment methods and online marketplaces are driving growth for businesses. V's Global Back to Business study (6^th edition) indicates that 73% of surveyed small businesses think digital payments hold the key to growth this year. As such, Visa’s Cybersource solution is expected to witness high demand in the region.

Providing top-notch cybersecurity services and knowledge is expected to help in fraud prevention and increase approval rates. This, in turn, will likely drive sales for businesses and merchants. The latest partnership is expected to help Visa innovate solutions to facilitate secured and seamless transactions. It is also likely to raise awareness regarding cybersecurity and related practices in different organizations.

Visa invests in technology to boost its already leading position in the payments market and minimize the impact of fraud, and protect consumer and merchant information. One of the main purviews of the company is to ensure the security of payments as they move from physical to digital environments. With 4 billion more payment transactions with debit and credit cards, and cash transactions declining by 17 million in the third quarter of fiscal 2022 on a year-over-year basis, V has significant prospects for growth in the emerging payments industry in the years to come.

Price Performance

Shares of Visa have decreased 16.1% in the past year compared with the industry’s 30.2% decline.

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Zacks Rank & Key Picks

Visa currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Some better-ranked stocks in the broader Business Services space are Marqeta, Inc. MQ, PaySign, Inc. PAYS and International Money Express, Inc. IMXI, each carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Headquartered in Oakland, CA, Marqeta provides card issuing and transaction processing services. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for MQ’s 2022 bottom line indicates 13.3% year-over-year growth.

Based in Henderson, NV, PaySign offers prepaid card products and processing services. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for PAYS’s 2022 earnings indicates 280% year-over-year growth.

Miami-based International Money Express works as a money remittance services company globally. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for IMXI’s 2022 bottom line indicates 18.4% year-over-year growth.

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