ValidiFI, Inc., the leading provider of predictive bank account and payment intelligence, released its Q1 2025 Bank Intelligence Quarterly Report highlighting the critical importance of comprehensive consumer banking profiles in combating payment fraud and reducing transaction risks. 

As ACH volumes continue to soar across all categories, with same-day ACH payment volume topping $1 billion in 2024, payment transactions are increasingly vulnerable to evolving risks. ValidiFI's report reveals how standard verification and risk mitigation practices alone are no longer sufficient for accurately assessing payment risks in today's complex banking landscape. 

"It's not just about layering more data—it's about layering in the right data so Financial Institutions (FIs) and service providers can make smarter 'yes' or 'no' decisions in less time," said John Gordon, CEO of ValidiFI. "FIs and service providers need a deeper, real-time understanding of consumer banking profiles to identify high-risk identities, behaviors, and activities before onboarding or sending payments."

Key findings from the report include:

• High-risk accounts are 3.75X more likely to experience Non-Sufficient Funds (NSF) returns compared to low-risk accounts
• Accounts with a recent NSF have 2.75X more NSFs than average
• High-risk accounts have 88 percent fewer successful transactions than low-risk accounts
• High-risk accounts experience returns on 62.5 percent of transactions, compared to just 5 percent for low-risk accounts

Within the ValidiFI data network, we see that many consumers hold multiple bank accounts. Often, a consumer may have traditional accounts along with non-traditional accounts. Our recent report examines patterns across different types of banking behaviors and FIs, including traditional banks, credit unions and neobanks. Notably, high-risk consumers are more likely to use neobanks, which make up 32 percent of their banking relationships, versus only 4 percent for low-risk consumers. Furthermore, neobank accounts show significantly lower payment success rates and 2.5X higher NSF rates compared to traditional banking institutions.

ValidiFI's analysis also uncovered clear indicators of potential fraud, including accounts associated with multiple phone numbers, email addresses, and social security numbers (SSNs). According to the data, accounts associated with a high risk of fraud typically have 12 account inquiries within 30 days, 5 unique SSNs, 4 or more emails, and 6 or more phone numbers associated with the account holder.

The report concludes with four actionable steps that can be taken to strengthen account authentication processes, leveraging ValidiFI's solutions to build multifaceted, predictive consumer banking profiles.