ebankIT has partnered with Daon to add continuous identity verification to its digital banking platform, targeting fraud risks that emerge after customer onboarding.
The arrangement links identity checks at account opening with later activity across digital banking journeys, including account access, re-verification when risk changes, and additional checks for higher-risk transactions.
Banks have long relied on know-your-customer checks at the start of a relationship, but fraud patterns have shifted beyond that initial stage. The rise of deepfakes, synthetic identities, and other AI-assisted tactics has increased pressure on lenders to verify that the same person remains behind subsequent actions.
Under the partnership, ebankIT is incorporating Daon's Identity Continuity framework into its platform. The aim is to maintain a live chain of trust between the first verified interaction and later use across mobile, web, and other digital channels.
The integrated tools include biometric matching, document verification, liveness detection, and phishing-resistant authentication. They sit inside ebankIT's banking environment through its application programming interface gateway, allowing institutions to onboard customers remotely and trigger further checks when risk signals change.
The approach is designed to reduce reliance on one-off verification events. Instead, banks and credit unions can apply additional authentication only when activity appears unusual or a transaction carries a higher risk profile.
Fraud pressure
The move reflects a wider debate in financial services over how to balance security with ease of use in digital channels. Banks want tighter controls against impersonation and account takeover, but they also face pressure to avoid adding extra steps for routine activity.
Continuous identity models have gained attention as institutions seek to close the gap between onboarding compliance checks and trust in subsequent transactions. In practice, that means linking identity proofing, login controls, and event-based re-checks into a single process rather than treating each stage separately.
Daon said the issue has become more urgent as fraudsters use AI tools to create more convincing fake identities and media. Traditional verification can establish that a customer appeared genuine at the outset, but it does not always prove that subsequent access requests are from the same person.
For digital banking providers, this creates both a commercial and an operational challenge. A platform that handles onboarding, security, and transaction approval in a single environment may appeal to financial institutions seeking to simplify their systems while meeting tighter expectations for fraud controls and audit trails.
ebankIT said the addition will be built into the core of its platform rather than offered as a separate bolt-on product. That distinction matters because banks often struggle with fragmented identity tools spread across the customer journey.
Executive views
Tom Grissen, Chief Executive Officer at Daon, described the shift as part of a broader change in how financial firms approach digital trust.
"Digital onboarding and transaction verification are now mission-critical for financial institutions," said Tom Grissen, Chief Executive Officer at Daon. "What's changing is the need to extend trust beyond those initial moments. By integrating Daon's trusted identity platform with ebankIT's modern digital banking ecosystem, we're enabling banks and credit unions to move away from fragmented, point-in-time checks and toward a model where identity can be trusted continuously, across every interaction."
The arrangement is intended for community financial institutions, as well as other banks and credit unions that use ebankIT's software. ebankIT positions its platform across retail, small business, and corporate banking, with services delivered through mobile, web, voice, and other digital channels.
Identity assurance has become a larger area of investment for technology suppliers serving banks. Providers are responding not only to fraud losses but also to demands for stronger records of how institutions verify users, approve access, and document exceptions.
One feature of the ebankIT-Daon arrangement is risk-based re-verification. Rather than asking every customer to repeat extensive checks at fixed intervals, a bank can request additional proof only when changes in behaviour or transaction patterns raise concern.
That can help lenders avoid imposing the same level of friction on all customers. It also reflects a broader shift in banking security toward more targeted interventions, with identity checks becoming more stringent as risk rises.
Paul Provenzano, Vice President of Market Development at ebankIT, said the partnership aims to combine stronger safeguards with a smoother experience for account holders.
"Our partnership with Daon strengthens our commitment to delivering a secure and humanized digital banking experience," said Provenzano. "Financial institutions can now onboard customers in minutes, verify identities with precision, and protect transactions without adding friction. It's the future of digital trust."