PayPal has agreed its second acquisition of the week, paying $120 million in cash for machine learning-powered fraud detection outfit Simility.
The agreement is just the latest in a frantic 12 months for PayPal as it bids to extend its reach to all corners of the payments market, becoming a "one-stop solution for global commerce".
On Monday, the firm struck a $400 million deal to acquire e-commerce payout platform Hyperwallet and has also made a $2.2 billion move for Sweden's iZettle and bought Swift Financial and Jetlore.
PayPal already owns a three per cent stake in Simility following an investment last year but has now decided to acquire a firm it claims has a unique approach to fraud prevention that goes beyond legacy, static rule-based offerings.
The Simility team has built a suite of machine learning-powered fraud tools which adapt and evolve with each transaction and allow merchants to adjust individual risk rules to reduce fraudulent payment activity.
Simility's technology will start being integrated into PayPal's offering upon completion of the deal, which is expected in the third quarter. Simility CEO Rahul Pangam and his team will report to PayPal VP of Enterprise Services Platforms, Tushar Shah
Bill Ready, COO, PayPal, says: "PayPal has been at the forefront of developing innovative fraud prevention and risk management solutions for nearly 20 years, but until now, merchants haven’t been able to configure those solutions to manage the unique complexities of their businesses.
"Together with Simility, we will be able to put more control in the hands of our merchants to fight fraud while helping make commerce experiences faster and more secure."