South African businesses are under pressure to strengthen digital identity verification but some of the quick fixes could be doing more harm than good.
With cybercrime on the rise, organisations are turning to identity verification (IDV) tools to stay compliant and keep customers safe. But as iiDENTIFii co-founder Lance Fanaroff warns, not all IDV solutions are created equal. In fact, opting for low-cost, gesture-based tools (think: “smile to verify” or “turn your head”) could leave companies dangerously exposed to advanced fraud techniques like deepfakes and digital replay attacks.
“Companies cannot afford to invest in biometric security and liveness technologies that have not been rigorously tested against current cyber threats,” says Fanaroff.
Why this matters now
South Africa is seeing a steep rise in impersonation scams and social engineering attacks. Banks are reporting significant operational strain as they try to keep up with increasingly sophisticated fraud cases.
And the digital shift is accelerating: PwC’s 2025 Major Banks Analysis found that nearly a third of the population is now digitally active, especially in retail banking. It’s clear that the stakes are rising—and that robust, future-proof IDV needs to be part of the solution.
Biometric adoption is growing—but not fast enough
Our South African Identity Index shows that local business adoption of AI-based fraud detection sits at 50.5%, with biometric verification close behind at 39.5%. That’s a solid start—but with fraud evolving faster than ever, it’s not enough to simply have a solution. It needs to be the right one.
“Passive liveness and multi-layered biometric checks offer significantly stronger protection than gesture-based solutions,” Fanaroff explains. “They also allow companies to scale authentication strategies depending on risk level, from onboarding to high-value transactions.”
Invest wisely, not cheaply
While budget is a common barrier, investing in inferior IDV can cost far more in the long run, both financially and in reputational damage. KPMG’s recent Banking Survey found that half of banks are investing in AI to reduce compliance costs. But 54% say budget constraints are still the biggest roadblock.
Our message? Cutting corners on digital identity will cost more than it saves.
Bottom line: Gesture-based verification is no match for today’s threat landscape. As South African businesses go digital, they need to move beyond outdated tools and adopt trusted, enterprise-grade solutions – because identity is where digital trust begins.
