In today’s high-stakes financial ecosystem, validating a bank account shouldn’t be a checkbox. It should be a signal—of trust, of intent, and of risk. And according to ValidiFI CEO John Gordon in a recent conversation with PYMNTS CEO Karen Webster, the future of payments and lending will belong to the companies that know how to “ValidiFI it”—not just verify it.
Because in a world where millions of consumer credentials are floating around the dark web, trust has never been harder to build—or more important to protect.
The future of payments and lending will belong to the companies that know how to “ValidiFI it”—not just verify it.
The New Reality: Consumers Are Skeptical, But Data Is Plentiful
Recent headlines, like the Coinbase credential breach, highlight a growing digital dilemma: consumers know their data is exposed, especially younger generations who’ve spent their entire lives online. But that doesn’t mean they’re willing to open the gates to their financial lives.
Gordon notes that while 20–40% of consumers are comfortable logging in to share transactional data for a one-time check, most stop short of granting broad access to their bank accounts. There’s a level of mistrust that limits how far they’re willing to go—especially when the benefit isn’t clear.
So how do we instill trust while minimizing friction?
Optionality Is the Future of Account Validation
The answer, according to Gordon, lies in consumer choice and intelligent friction. That means offering multiple pathways to validation—whether that’s credentialed logins or bank account and routing number connectivity—and letting the consumer choose the one that fits their comfort level.
And just as important: knowing when to add friction and when to walk away. If a transaction gives off fraudster signals, there’s wisdom in simply steering clear. As Gordon puts it, “You don’t want to throw good money after bad.”
The Limits of Today’s Fraud Defenses
One of the biggest failure points in traditional validation methods? They’re either too light (just a compliance checkbox) or too heavy (requiring full account access and 90 days of transaction history). Neither is ideal.
In reality, most companies fall into the trap of siloing fraud strategy from compliance processes. However, Gordon argues that the middle ground—where compliance, risk, and trust intersect—is the sweet spot for innovation. Through compliance, leading fintech’s are going beyond the checkbox and leveraging real-time bank account and payment intelligence to stay ahead, leveraging data and insights that can strengthen both security and customer trust. By integrating compliance efforts with fraud prevention strategies, companies can create more effective, streamlined processes that not only meet regulatory requirements but also proactively mitigate risks. This holistic approach allows organizations to capitalize on compliance as a foundation for building powerful fraud defenses while fostering a culture of trust with their customers.
At ValidiFI, that middle ground is fueled by a robust, consortium-based data set that’s constantly growing. It includes check-writing behavior, transaction anomalies, and signals from previously sketchy or fraudulent accounts—all of which can be cross-referenced in real time.
The Real Fraud Signal: If It Looks Like a Fraudster, It Probably Is
Many financial institutions (FIs) still rely heavily on outdated or incomplete risk signals. But with the rise of synthetic fraud and the difficulty of distinguishing “good” from “bad” accounts (especially among neobank users), the ability to triangulate new and unconventional data points is critical.
This is where ValidiFI excels. The company’s database network integrates multiple signals—behavior, ownership, transaction history, and institutional data—to provide a comprehensive view of account risk. As a result, Gordon says, “We are able to pull together very specific insights. For instance, we know that frequent changes in a consumer’s PII correlate with a 130% increase in fraud likelihood. Additionally, accounts associated with three or more phone numbers in the past 30 days exhibit a fraud rate 2.75 times higher than the average. In other words, if it looks like a fraudster, it probably is a fraudster.”
The Bigger Picture: Credit Scoring Needs a Makeover
The conversation also touched on a broader issue—how the entire credit ecosystem is overdue for disruption. “We’re still underwriting consumers the way we did 50 years ago,” Gordon points out. But consumers are accessing credit in totally different ways today—buy now, pay later, embedded lending, instant payouts.
Yet credit bureaus still dominate with static scores and sky-high pricing. This leaves fintech’s and non-traditional lenders at a disadvantage—unless they can access alternative data that gives them a clearer, more dynamic picture of a borrower’s financial reality.
That’s where ValidiFI’s moat lies: in its consortium-driven model, in its flexible paths to verification, and in its ability to productize real-time signals into actionable intelligence for credit and payment decisions.
Final Word: Validation Is Evolving—And So Should Your Strategy
It’s no longer enough to ask, “Is this account real?” You need to know:
- Is this person behind the account trustworthy and who they say they are?
- Is this transaction safe?
- Is the financial institution high-risk?
- Is this risk worth the cost of acquisition?
- And you need to know it before money moves.
That’s what it means to ValidiFI your accounts—not just to check a box, but to check your blind spots.
Want to learn more?
Let’s talk about how real-time account validation can help you reduce fraud, protect revenue, and unlock smarter decisioning—without adding unnecessary friction. 👉 Validifi.com
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