Fraud no longer requires a hacker in a hoodie — it just takes a smartphone and a few minutes with an AI tool. Generative AI has transformed fraud from a niche criminal enterprise into a mass-scale threat that's reshaping how financial institutions approach digital account opening.
It’s estimated that U.S. financial services could lose $40 billion by 2027 to generative-AI powered fraud, more than triple the $12.3 billion lost in 2023. For banks and credit unions, the question isn't whether this wave will hit, but whether they're prepared when it does.
Generative AI fraud stems from a one-two punch: synthetic fraud and deepfake technology.
Synthetic fraud involves creating fake identities using a combination of real and fabricated information — for example, a legitimate Social Security number paired with a fictional name and address. These synthetic identities are designed to pass KYC checks and open deposit accounts, and can even be supported by fabricated credit histories. As of early 2025, synthetic identity fraud accounted for nearly 25% of all bank fraud losses in the U.S.
Deepfake technology brings these synthetic identities to life. Using AI-generated images, videos, and audio, fraudsters can create convincing biometric data to fool verification systems and human reviewers alike. By the end of 2024, one deepfake attack was occurring every five minutes.
Many financial institutions are choosing to over-optimize for fraud prevention, even if it kills legitimate conversions. They still require manual reviews for a significant share of account openings, an indication that they don’t trust their current fraud prevention systems to keep pace.
This friction has become a competitive disadvantage. Consumers expect a seamless deposit account opening experience, and when they don’t get it, they go elsewhere. Fraud concerns are a major reason why some banks remain hesitant to fully embrace digital channels or, having made the transition, struggle to stay competitive in the digital space.
Luckily, it’s possible to optimize for fraud prevention and deposit growth. Doing it means shifting from static fraud rules to a dynamic, intelligent infrastructure. Systems must be able to evaluate risk in real time, route users through adaptive verification flows, and update fraud policies as quickly as the threats themselves evolve.
Amount helps banks and credit unions optimize for both. Our unified account opening and loan origination platform is built with fraud prevention at its core, pairing advanced risk models with AI-optimized policy management to identify synthetic identities before they gain a foothold.
Banks and credit unions that use Amount benefit from:
Now that you know how we’ll keep your institution safer, get our best advice for gaining deposit market share.
What are synthetic identities, and why do they threaten deposit account openings?
Synthetic identities are created by combining real data (like Social Security numbers) with fake names, addresses, or credentials. These identities often pass standard KYC checks and are used to open deposit accounts. Because they don’t belong to a real person, synthetic identities can be very difficult to track and represent a rising share of deposit-related losses at financial institutions.
Why are deepfakes becoming a major threat to deposit account opening?
Deepfakes use AI-generated video, voice, or images to impersonate real individuals and pass biometric verification systems. As digital account opening increasingly relies on facial recognition and other biometric tools, fraudsters are using deepfakes to fool these systems and open fraudulent deposit accounts. This tactic mimics legitimate customers, making detection more difficult without an advanced fraud infrastructure.
How does Amount fight fraud during digital deposit opening?
Amount embeds real-time identity verification, fraud scoring, and compliance checks directly into the digital deposit account opening flow. Our platform uses adaptive risk models and dynamic decisioning to flag synthetic identities, detect anomalies, and apply the right level of verification based on risk — without slowing down the onboarding experience. It’s a smarter, more scalable approach to keeping fraud out of the deposit funnel.