Global Bank Cuts Fraud and Recovery Costs with Zero-Knowledge Biometrics

Objective

Tier-1 European Bank set out to modernize authentication for millions of customers by eliminating passwords, improving fraud protection, and reducing growing call-center costs. Their goal was to deliver a frictionless and secure experience that complied with strict privacy regulations while ensuring existing users could adopt the new solution without additional enrollment steps.

Challenge

The bank’s legacy authentication processes created operational strain and security exposure. Customers relied on call-center agents for account recovery, costing the organization millions annually. SMS OTPs led to high transaction failure and abandonment, while also increasing susceptibility to phishing and SIM-swap attacks. Privacy constraints further prevented the use of traditional cloud-stored biometrics.

Solution

Ping Identity’s Zero-knowledge biometrics (formerly Keyless) replaced passwords and SMS OTPs with secure facial authentication. Customers could recover accounts with a glance, complete high-risk transactions seamlessly, and adopt the new method without re-enrolling. Zero-Knowledge Biometrics ensured that no biometric data was stored in a retrievable form—on the device or in the cloud—so it cannot be constructed or linked back to the original image, meeting stringent compliance needs.

Results

The bank saw a 79% reduction in account takeover fraud and an estimated $2M in fraud-attempt savings. Operational costs dropped by $4.1M in the first year due to fewer helpdesk calls and eliminated SMS OTP expenses. Customers experienced higher transaction success rates and a dramatically simplified recovery process.