/BBVA & Veridas: Driving Global Banking Leadership through Trusted Real Digital Identity

The strategic partnership between BBVA and Veridas began in 2017 with a pioneering project in Spain, making BBVA the first bank in the country to offer remote account opening to its customers while complying with SEPBLAC (Anti-Money Laundering) regulations. 

Following this initial solution, the partnership has scaled to an unprecedented dimension, exemplified by a record-breaking 34.2 million identity processes completed in 2025, representing a remarkable 49% growth compared to the previous year.

This evolution is not only reflected in the sheer volume of transactions but also in the diversification of the service, which has expanded from a single remote onboarding solution to an ecosystem of over 60 specialized use cases deployed across 9 countries in Europe and Latin America.

By successfully managing tens of millions of interactions annually, Veridas demonstrates every day that it is the most reliable and scalable identity solution for a global banking leader like BBVA, providing the perfect balance between fluid customer experiences and world-class fraud prevention.

 

Trusted Real Digital Identity: The Backbone of Digital Transformation

To understand BBVA’s success, we must first define our strategic core: Trusted Real Digital Identity. In the current landscape, “onboarding” is only the beginning. A robust identity strategy must fuel every digital touchpoint: account opening, lending, high-security journeys, and support.

At Veridas, we believe that Identity also lives in the device and the channel. A Truly Trusted Identity is not just about a face or a voice; it is about the integrity of the entire interaction. It is a multi-layered approach where we verify:

1. The Person: World-Class Biometric Performance

The heart of our solution lies in our proprietary biometric engines for both face and voice, consistently ranked at the top of the NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology) benchmarks. We don’t just match a face to a document; we ensure the presence of a real human being.

• Physical Liveness: Our iBeta PAD Level 1 & 2 certified technology distinguishes a real person from sophisticated physical spoofs, such as high-resolution photos, 3D masks, or video replays. This Presentation Attack Detection (PAD) is active across both app and web environments, providing a consistent shield against identity theft attempts at the point of capture.
• Voice Integrity: Our voice biometrics provide a frictionless, passwordless experience, ensuring that the “voice print” is unique, encrypted, and impossible to replicate.

 

2. The Document: Absolute Physical Authenticity

A trusted identity starts with a trusted credential. Our platform supports the verification of thousands of global documents with a “security-first” approach.

• NFC Extraction: Veridas can provide the use of NFC technology to read the encrypted chip of e-passports and ID cards. This guarantees 100% data accuracy and ensures the document has not been physically altered.
• AI-Driven OCR & Forgery Detection: For non-chip documents, our AI analyzes thousands of data points—from micro-patterns and font consistency to holograms and UV light simulations—ensuring the physical credential is authentic and has not been digitally tampered with.

 

3. The Device: Environment Security & Risk Signals

Identity is inextricably linked to the hardware used to transmit it. Through Telemetry and Risk Signals, we analyze the health and reputation of the environment:

• Device Fingerprinting: We identify if a device has been “rooted” or “jailbroken,” or if it is running suspicious emulators often used by professional fraud rings.
• Behavioral Signals: We monitor real-time data such as IP reputation, proxy/VPN usage, and phone number intelligence (detecting SIM swaps or high-risk VOIP numbers) to flag anomalies before the biometric process even begins.

 

4. The Channel: The Antifraud & GenAI Shield

The most dangerous modern threat is the Injection Attack, where fraudsters bypass the camera or microphone to “inject” a synthetic deepfake directly into the data stream.

• Data Stream Protection: Our AI Shield protects the integrity of the communication channel itself. We ensure that the biometric data being processed is coming directly from the device’s sensors in real-time, effectively neutralizing any attempt to use pre-recorded or AI-generated synthetic media.
• Deepfake Neutralization: By verifying the authenticity of the channel, we ensure that even a visually perfect deepfake cannot gain access, providing BBVA with an unrivaled defense against the fraud of the future.

 

Without this trusted identity layer, there is no true digital transformation. This positioning allows BBVA to treat identity as the Growth Engine for its digital business, providing the Best UX Native & Conversion rates in the market. This excellence is confirmed by our customer base, as evidenced by BBVA’s ability to acquire millions of users with a process that is both invisible to the honest user and impassable for the fraudster.

The BBVA Case: Exponential Growth Powered by Identity

BBVA, one of the world’s largest and most innovative financial institutions, made a historic strategic decision: identity is not just a security layer—it’s a business driver. Since 2017, BBVA has partnered with Veridas to power its identity strategy, enabling the bank to remotely verify and authenticate its customers with biometric precision—anytime, anywhere.

The results of this collaboration, guided by the Trusted Real Digital Identity principles, have led to the implementation of more than 60 different use cases across 9 countries, resulting in more than 90 millions of identity processes completed successfully. Identity now touches every single moment of the BBVA customer journey.

A Global, Scalable Approach: Deployed in 9 Countries

What started in Spain as a pioneering project quickly became the blueprint for global expansion. Today, BBVA’s identity verification system is powering operations in:

• Europe: Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Germany.
• Americas: Mexico, Argentina, Peru, Colombia, Uruguay.

 

No matter the market or the local regulation, the platform delivers a consistent, compliant, and secure identity experience. This global scalability allows BBVA to lead the banking sector in every region, ensuring that a customer in Milan receives the same high-standard experience as a customer in Mexico City.

More Than Onboarding: Over 60 Active Use Cases

BBVA’s identity solution is embedded throughout the entire customer journey, managing the identity lifecycle through more than 60 specialized use cases. These use cases are categorized into four primary pillars to address various business needs:

• New Customers & Products: Beyond simple customer activation and onboarding for individuals, foreigners, and legal entities, this pillar includes the registration of minors, issuing credit cards, and granting consumer credit for vehicles or through third-party companies.
• Security Journeys: These journeys focus on protecting the bank and its users through identification on blacklists via facial biometrics, password resets or recoveries, and validating changes to registered mobile numbers.
• Banking Operations: This category streamlines necessary administrative tasks, such as the renewal of identity documents, completeness of files, and identity verification in sensitive processes like will acceptance or mortgage contracts.
• CX & Omnichannel Authentication: Focused on a superior user experience, this includes “proof of life” for retirees using voice authentication and general voice authentication in contact centers.

 

Real Business Impact: +34 million identity processes completed in 2025

The growth of this partnership has been nothing short of exponential. By the end of 2025, BBVA reached a new record in its digital transformation history:

• +34 million identity processes completed in 2025.
• A massive +49% increase in volume compared to the already record-breaking 2024.
• Over 90 million cumulative processes since the partnership’s inception.

 

In the first year of the remote account opening service in Spain, BBVA enabled over 173,000 new customers to join without ever visiting a branch. Today, that number has scaled into the millions, resulting in massive user growth, improved Net Promoter Scores (NPS), and unprecedented operational efficiency at scale.

Success Stories: Innovation Leading the Market

1. Italy: The Success of the First 100% Digital Bank

One of the most compelling examples of international growth is BBVA Italy. Using the framework of Our Identity Advisory Service, BBVA launched as a fully digital bank in the Italian market. By offering a 100% remote, fluid, and biometric onboarding process, BBVA Italy acquired hundreds of thousands of customers in record time. This success surpassed all initial growth forecasts and proved that in a competitive European market, a frictionless identity experience is the primary factor for customer acquisition.

2. Mexico: Financial Inclusion through Voice Biometrics

In Mexico, BBVA and Veridas solved a critical social and operational challenge: the “Proof of Life” (Fe de Vida) for pensioners. Traditionally, elderly customers were required to travel to a physical branch every few months to prove they were alive to receive their funds—a process that was difficult for the customers and expensive for the bank.

Through Voice Biometrics, BBVA enabled these customers to complete the process with a simple phone call from the comfort of their homes. This use case is a global benchmark for financial inclusion and empathy, providing a dignified, secure experience for a vulnerable demographic while significantly reducing identity fraud and operational costs.

More than one million voice processes have been successfully completed with Veridas technology for this specific use case. It is a global benchmark for financial inclusion and dignity.

Spearheading the Global Fight Against Fraud: The New Banking Standard

As generative AI and synthetic media (deepfakes) become more sophisticated, BBVA has placed identity management at the very center of its defense strategy. Veridas’ positioning for banking defines a new standard: Biometrics alone are no longer enough. To counter modern “injection attacks” and AI-generated fraud, BBVA utilizes Veridas’ advanced architecture to ensure Trusted Digital Identity.

According to Natalia Ortega, Head of Fraud Prevention at BBVA:

“Although Veridas started as our identity partner for customer enrollment through digital channels, over the past few years, the relationship has evolved, leveraging its advanced biometrics capabilities to strengthen BBVA’s fraud prevention.”

 

Know Your Customer in the banking sector (KYC) is evolving into “Know Your Customer… and their Device and their Reality.” BBVA’s strategy, guided by Veridas, prioritizes:

• Injection Attack Detection: Beyond traditional “liveness,” the system protects the data stream itself to neutralize synthetic media attempts.
• iBeta PAD Level 1 & 2 Evaluations: Ensuring the system can accurately distinguish between a real person and any physical or digital spoofing attempt in compliance with ISO 30107-3 standard.
• Renewable Biometric References (RBR): Based on ISO standards, these allow biometric data to be revoked and reissued if compromised, ensuring lifelong privacy and security for the bank’s millions of users.
• Global Regulatory Excellence: Full alignment with GDPR, PSD3, AMLR, and readiness for the European digital identity wallet (eIDAS2).

 

Why Our Customers Choose Us: The Veridas Differential

Global leaders like BBVA do not choose Veridas simply for a functional tool; they choose us because of a unique combination of technical excellence and a strategic vision that ensures long-term business resilience. Our value proposition is built on four non-negotiable pillars:

1. Advanced Antifraud: Protecting Revenue and Reputation

In high-stakes industries, “cheap” identity verification technology is the most expensive mistake a company can make. Veridas provides institutional-grade protection across the entire risk spectrum:

• Multi-Layered Defense: We don’t just verify a document; we secure the entire interaction by cross-referencing:
  • Real Identity: Biometric and document authenticity.
  • Device integrity: Detecting spoofing, emulators, and high-risk hardware.
  • Channel integrity: ensuring the media stream is captured by the camera and travels to our server without being hijacked
  • Systemic level: analyzing overall system traffic to identify industrial-scale fraud.
  • AML Compliance: Integrated screening against global watchlists.

 

• Certified Fraud Detection (PAD/IAD/MAD): Our technology is industry-certified for Presentation Attack Detection (PAD) iBeta, Injection Attack Detection (IAD) CEN/TS, and Massive Attack Detection (MAD). We stop sophisticated deepfakes and digital injections that bypass standard solutions.
• Risk Mitigation: In the current threat landscape, saving a few cents per transaction is never worth the “Job Risk” of a massive security breach. We provide the peace of mind that comes with a zero-compromise approach to fraud.

 

2. Best UX & conversion, confirmed by our customer base

Our market differentiation is built upon a 100% AI-powered proprietary technology stack. Unlike competitors who rely on third-party vendors, our complete ownership of the technology translates directly into superior User Experience (UX), uncompromising security, and the agility to ensure rapid adaptability to regulations.

• World-Class Biometric Performance. The Veridas biometric engine is ranked in the top 5 worldwide in 2026. This technical superiority is not just a metric; it drives better conversion rates for our clients while providing robust fraud protection.
• New communication channels for quick customer acquisition and service. Modern demographics and global markets demand instant digital responses, even from traditional sectors like banking.  Our solution empowers businesses to leverage high-conversion channels— like WhatsApp, Instagram, Telegram, and Facebook—without compromising on quality or performance.
• Identity at Scale: From Hyper-Scale Automation to Expert Manual Review. Veridas provides global coverage supported by High Availability and Disaster Recovery (HA-DR) multi-cloud architecture. Our scalability is battle-tested in live environments, processing up to 250,000 IDVs per day with peaks exceeding 1,000 IDVs per minute. For partners requiring regulatory compliance through manual oversight, we provide a full-service, 24/7 Managed Operations team. We deliver industry-leading SLAs of under 3 minutes, combining automated speed with trusted human expertise.
• Unrivaled Certifications & Standards. We operate with the highest level of accredited trust, holding a comprehensive suite of certifications:
  • Injection Attack Detection (IAD): Certified under CEN/TS 18099.
  • Presentation Attack Detection (PAD): Compliant with ISO 30107-3 across iBeta Levels 1, 2, and 3.
  • Voice Biometrics: We are the only company in the world to hold iBeta Level 1 certification for voice.
  • Operational Compliance: Fully certified in ISO 27000, ISO 9000, and SOC 2/3.

 

3. Optimized TCO: Eliminating the Hidden Costs of Identity

Many organizations focus only on the initial price of a software license, but the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) of identity management often hides significant expenses. Veridas is designed to eliminate these inefficiencies:

• Reducing Manual Reviews: By achieving high automated pass rates with absolute certainty, we drastically reduce the need for expensive back-office manual intervention.
• Preventing Drop-offs: Our “Best UX Native” approach ensures that legitimate customers complete the process in seconds. Every 1% increase in conversion directly impacts the bank’s bottom line.
• Maintenance & Integration: Our platform, including the XpressID orchestration layer, can be integrated in record time, reducing the IT burden and legacy maintenance costs that typically plague large financial institutions.

 

4. “European” AI & Ethics: Audited, Bias-Free, and Compliant

In an era where AI transparency is a regulatory requirement, Veridas stands as a leader in AI Governance. We operate with a “European” mindset—prioritizing privacy, fairness, and transparency.

• EU AI Act Native: All our biometric engines are developed, trained, and audited in full compliance with the EU AI Act, specifically categorized under high-risk systems requirements.
• PwC Audited: Veridas was a global pioneer in having its AI training processes and algorithms audited by PwC. This independent audit certifies that our technology is bias-free, ensuring equal and fair performance across all ethnicities, genders, and ages—a critical requirement for a bank like BBVA that serves a diverse global population.
• ISO 42001 Certification: Veridas holds the ISO/IEC 42001 certification, the international standard for Artificial Intelligence Management Systems. This accredits that we manage the development of our AI responsibly, ethically, and under continuous improvement processes.

 

5. Sovereign Infrastructure: Cloud & Deployment Flexibility

For a global bank, data residency and infrastructure control are paramount. We do not force our customers into a single path; we adapt to their architectural needs.

• Multi-Cloud Excellence: We are fully compatible with AWS and Google Cloud, providing a strategic advantage that goes beyond simple integration. This architecture enables a robust failover strategy: in the event of a major service outage on one provider (e.g., AWS), we can seamlessly reroute traffic to another (e.g., GCP). This ensures that BBVA’s mission-critical identity services remain uninterrupted, guaranteeing 24/7 availability for customers even during large-scale provider failures.
• Hybrid & On-Premise Stacks: For regions with strict data sovereignty laws or for high-security internal environments, we offer a hybrid stack. This allows banks to deploy Veridas technology on their own premises or private clouds, ensuring that sensitive biometric vectors never leave the designated jurisdiction.
• High Availability (HA) & Resilience: Our architecture is designed for “Always-on” banking, with robust disaster recovery and high-availability protocols that support BBVA’s 24/7 global operations.

 

Conclusion: The Growth Engine for Digital Business

By integrating identity into its core as a Trusted Real Digital Identity, BBVA hasn’t just digitized its services; it has built a foundation for sustainable growth. With 34.2 million processes in 2025, presence in 9 countries, and over 60 active use cases, this partnership proves that without a trusted identity layer, there is no true digital transformation.

This architecture ensures that identity is not a “checkbox” but the backbone of every digital touchpoint. BBVA and Veridas continue to redefine global banking leadership, proving that the future of banking is moving toward a model where Trusted Real Digital Identity provides the best UX, optimizes costs, and offers unrivaled protection against the fraud of the future.