Global fraud escalation drives new wave of biometric and continuous verification in banking

AI‑driven identity fraud is accelerating with deepfakes, synthetic identities and cross‑platform attacks causing billions in losses and pushing banks toward networked verification. YEO Messaging and ReconIQ are bringing continuous, on‑device biometric checks to U.S. banks, while Czechia’s Air Bank has added Innovatrics face verification to secure mobile‑app pairing.

Fraud operates as a network, Liminal–Unico warn in new intelligence report

A new intelligence report from Liminal and Unico warns that financial institutions are facing a steep escalation in AI‑driven identity fraud.

One institution logged 8,065 deepfake attempts in eight months, tied to $347 million in verified losses. It underscores how generative AI has pushed global fraud losses beyond $400 billion a year. Fraud teams now rank AI‑generated synthetic content as their top concern, and forecasts suggest financial institution losses could rise 121 percent by 2030.

Liminal and Unico outline a “fraud sophistication ladder” where physical presentation attacks make up 30.9 percent of cases. The middle tier sees the bulk of volume, with simple injection attacks representing 45.8 percent of fraud cases, and advanced deepfake or manipulated‑monitor attacks 23.3 percent.

Synthetic identity fraud is expanding fastest, now accounting for 11 percent of global fraud, an eightfold increase year over year. Account takeover attacks affected six million victims in 2025, up 141 percent since 2021, with successful deepfake‑enabled incidents costing organizations an average of $280,000. Fraud pressure is broad, spanning card misuse, card testing, account takeover and triangulation schemes.

Latin America is the global epicenter, with synthetic identities making up 48.3 percent of fraud cases. In one deployment, banks and fintechs in the region blocked more than 500,000 deepfake attempts. The report notes that LATAM’s conditions of rapid digital adoption, high mobile penetration and fast financial inclusion are now emerging in other markets. Even in the U.S., synthetic identity exposure reached $3.3 billion in 2024.

Network‑level data shows fraud operating as coordinated campaigns rather than isolated incidents. Unico identified a single fraud entity linked to 949 identity documents, with top actors targeting 30 different businesses. Since institutions operate in isolation, repeat offenders appear as first‑time customers each time they move to a new platform.

The report argues that only connected verification networks can detect repeat offenders. However, it warns that such systems must include strong correction mechanisms to prevent wrongful flags from spreading across institutions. Without this, a mistaken rejection at one bank could follow an innocent customer everywhere.

Liminal and Unico believe the industry has to change structurally, as fraud is scaling like a business, with defenses scaling as networks rather than isolated systems.

YEO Messaging partners with ReconIQ to push continuous identity verification into US banking

YEO Messaging has signed a strategic partnership with U.S. consultancy ReconIQ to accelerate the rollout of its continuous biometric identity verification technology across American banks and financial institutions.

The agreement pairs YEO’s privacy‑by‑design facial verification platform with ReconIQ’s network of U.S. banking relationships. Account takeover fraud continues to surge in the U.S.

Federal Reserve figures show losses reached $15.6 billion in 2024, up from $12.7 billion the previous year.

YEO argues that traditional authentication performed only at login is no longer sufficient, as attackers increasingly hijack sessions after initial access. Its system verifies the user continuously throughout a digital banking session, with face recognition and liveness checks running entirely on device so banks never store or transmit biometric data.

ReconIQ will lead YEO’s go‑to‑market strategy in the U.S., introducing the platform and SDK to retail and commercial banks, payments firms, fintechs, crypto platforms and wealth management providers.

YEO CEO Alan Jones said ReconIQ’s sector expertise and trusted advisory role give the company “a highly credible route into the U.S. banking market” at a time when fraud prevention, customer trust and privacy governance are converging.

ReconIQ founder Marc McCarthy said continuous verification offers banks stronger protection against increasingly sophisticated, AI‑driven impersonation attacks. The initial focus will be on digital banking authentication, high‑value transactions, crypto activity and other sensitive account operations.The companies say they are already in discussions with several major North American financial institutions.

Czechia’s Air Bank deploys Innovatrics biometrics for secure app pairing

One of Czechia’s leading digital first banks Air Bank has deployed face verification technology from Innovatrics to strengthen the way customers link their mobile devices to its My Air banking app.

The biometric update supports a critical step in the app‑pairing process, where existing customers must securely connect their device to meet PSD2 strong customer authentication rules.

With around 90 percent of Air Bank’s clients relying on the app, the bank needed a verification method that worked smoothly inside everyday mobile banking use rather than forcing customers into a separate onboarding flow.

Air Bank now combines a one‑time SMS code with Innovatrics’ on‑device face verification to confirm that the legitimate account holder is present during pairing. The approach keeps identity checks strong while allowing customers to complete the process entirely on their phones, the companies say.

“Face biometrics gave us a practical way to make app pairing easier for clients while keeping the identity check strong,” says Jakub Feldstein, Identity Services Manager at Air Bank.

“The rollout went smoothly, the system has worked reliably in production, and the addition of more identity verification features will only help us improve in the next stage of the journey.”

Innovatrics has a case study on Air Bank, with a before and after on how biometric app pairing changed mobile app linking for customers.

Article Topics

banking  |  biometric verification  |  biometrics  |  continuous authentication  |  financial services  |  Innovatrics  |  Liminal  |  Unico  |  Yeo Messaging