Digital banks stopped being “just a trend” a long time ago — they have become the new reality of the financial world. These institutions offer unprecedented convenience: 24/7 access to accounts, instant payments, and intuitive mobile apps.
The pace of digitalization is accelerating. And the trend is irreversible. Easy onboarding and instant transfers attract millions of new users. But that simplicity produces another effect — a growing number of accounts. Some customers create multiple accounts by mistake, others for bonuses, and some deliberately try to bypass the rules. The goal is to maximize gains from promotions, cashback, and welcome bonuses.
Wherever there is an opportunity to profit, abuse follows. Multi-accounting shifts from customer convenience to a headache for banks and a serious risk to the financial system. Digital banks are forced to balance customer-centricity with protecting their own interests. That requires implementing sophisticated monitoring and verification systems (KYC, for example).
Today, we’ll examine this confrontation from every angle — paying attention to both the technical and the ethical aspects of the problem.
What Are Digital Banks?
Digital banks are financial institutions that operate primarily or entirely online. They function without physical infrastructure, which lowers costs and allows them to deliver services faster than traditional players.
Their key role is to simplify access to banking services. Everything becomes closer, easier, and more transparent. The rise of digital banks has created a unique environment where registering an account takes just a few minutes and minimal documentation. This encourages users to open additional accounts for different purposes.
But simplicity always has a downside.
The Hidden Cost of Multiple Accounts
The problem runs deeper than it seems at first glance. For an ordinary digital bank user, multi-accounting may look like a harmless way to get a double bonus. But for a financial institution, it is a systemic threat.
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Rising marketing costs
Banks spend enormous amounts to acquire a single customer (Cost Per Action). When one person registers ten accounts just to collect a welcome bonus, the digital bank burns budget for nothing. Campaign efficiency drops. There is no real customer loyalty — only losses that, at the scale of major fintechs, can add up to millions of dollars. -
Distorted KPI and performance measurement
Management relies on audience growth data. If 20% of the “user base” is “dead souls” or duplicates, all analytics become worthless. Real audience reach is skewed. You cannot build a growth strategy on false numbers. This leads to incorrect company valuation and misguided investment decisions. -
KYC and AML compliance violations
Here the stakes are higher. KYC (Know Your Customer) and AML (Anti-Money Laundering) verification are not just a bank’s whim — they are legal requirements. The bank cannot properly identify the client or track the origin of funds. If a regulator discovers that a digital bank failed to detect multi-accounting and allowed a network of money mules to operate, penalties can be fatal — up to and including license revocation. -
More complex monitoring
Every new account increases the load on servers and support teams. The more interconnected accounts exist, the more resources are needed to track transactions and analyze risk. Banks have to hire additional specialists and deploy expensive software systems. -
Credit fraud risks
The most dangerous category is so-called “bust-out fraud.” Accounts created for referral bonuses are often later used for overdrafts, loan applications, or cash withdrawals with no intention of repaying the debt. Default rates rise. In the long run, this undermines banks’ financial stability — and, as a result, hits honest customers through higher rates and fees.
Why Do Digital Banks Monitor Accounts?
Account monitoring is not a bank’s whim — it is an essential security measure. Every aspect of this process is aimed at protecting everyone in the financial system.
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Online security and fraud prevention
Detecting suspicious behavioral patterns helps prevent financial losses. Banks analyze transactions in real time to uncover fraudulent schemes. Identifying connected multi-accounts helps stop money laundering, carding, and financial pyramids. One detected network can prevent losses worth millions. -
Legal compliance
Regulatory requirements get stricter every year. KYC/AML obligations require digital banks to know their customers and prevent cash-outs and fictitious operations. Ignoring multi-accounting is treated by regulators as complicity in financial crime. Non-compliance leads to fines and sanctions — for banks, it’s a question of survival. -
Reputation and risk management
A financial institution’s status is its main asset. Any bank involved in scandals tied to money laundering loses partners and major clients. Reputational damage can be fatal.
Risk management includes forecasting and minimizing potential threats. Account monitoring is a key element of that strategy. -
Better customer service and user experience
It sounds paradoxical, but monitoring helps good customers. By detecting fraud schemes, a bank protects the funds of legitimate clients. In addition, understanding real user behavior enables personalization and more relevant product offers. Proper segmentation and identifying true user needs are impossible when “junk” accounts exist. Monitoring is not only about security — it’s about ecosystem quality.
How Banks Find Needles in a Haystack: Tracking Methodology
Modern digital banks do not rely on luck. They use powerful technologies and big-data analytics to uncover connections. Machine learning helps identify patterns, links between accounts, and hidden dependencies. They rely on both individual signals and multidimensional models that combine dozens of parameters. Anti-fraud systems learn from every incident, and digital banks continuously adapt their defense strategies.
Let’s look at the main methods fintech companies use.
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Email address analysis
The simplest filter. Banks maintain blacklists of disposable email domains.
If an email was registered yesterday or appears in a compromised-provider database, it’s a “red flag.” Syntax is analyzed too: patterns like ivan1, ivan2, ivan3 are detected instantly.
Using temporary or one-time email addresses (like those from Guerrilla Mail or TempMail) is a classic sign of not wanting to leave a trace. Systems flag such accounts for closer attention. -
Transaction and behavioral pattern analysis
It’s not only who the customer is, but also how they act.
Machine learning helps detect anomalies in typical customer behavior. Repeated operations, identical behavior patterns, or synchronized actions across multiple accounts are reasons for review.
- IP address identification
A classic that still works.
Matching IPs, logins from the same subnets, and suspicious proxies are all signals that help link accounts to each other.
- Digital fingerprint checks (Fingerprinting)
This is a comprehensive collection of device and browser data: OS version, screen resolution, installed fonts, time zone, system language. The uniqueness of such a fingerprint can reach 99%. Switching browsers does not change your “hardware,” and the bank will see that. Fingerprint matches across different accounts are a strong red flag.
- Comparing personal data and user behavior
Biometric verification is becoming the standard in digital banking. Face scans or fingerprint scans are difficult to fake.
Typing speed and interaction patterns are analyzed to confirm identity. Neural networks can recognize you by how you scroll a feed on your smartphone.
And that’s only part of the arsenal. Geolocation (GPS), contact list analysis (if access was granted), matching data from social networks and open registries. Even cookies you “forgot” to delete can expose an entire pool of multi-accounts.
The Dark Side of Surveillance: Problems and Challenges
Active monitoring creates its own ethical dilemmas. The balance between security and privacy is one of the hardest questions in digital banking. Legislation in this area is constantly evolving, creating new challenges for financial institutions.
Regulations such as the GDPR in Europe or Russia’s 152-FZ strictly regulate the processing of personal data. Digital banks must comply with these rules when collecting and analyzing information. The collection and processing of personal data must have a specific lawful purpose. Customer consent to process this data must be informed and voluntary.
Incorrect or overly aggressive tracking leads to false triggers. An honest customer may be blocked due to sharing an IP address with a fraudster, or because they used a VPN while traveling. False positives lead to losing loyal users.
Data confidentiality is a major risk. The more data a bank collects, the more attractive it is to hackers. A data leak of this kind can cause catastrophic damage.
Ethical questions also arise when behavioral data is used. Where is the line between security and intrusion into private life?
Equally dangerous is sharing data with third parties. Analytics partners, marketing agencies — every new touchpoint increases the chance of leakage or misuse.
Legal conflicts also appear. What if linked accounts belong to different members of the same family living at the same address? If a bank blocks such accounts believing they belong to one person, that can lead to lawsuits.
The Future of Monitoring: What Awaits Us?
Trends and future developments in tracking technologies are both frightening and fascinating. The “arms race” between anti-fraud systems and those who want to remain anonymous will continue. Both monitoring methods and ways to evade them will evolve.
AI will become the primary tool that combines behavioral, technical, and contextual data. Digital banks will strengthen risk models, add new parameters, and improve matching accuracy. At the same time, the key trend is balance between control and convenience. Banks cannot turn every customer into a suspect.
Most likely, we will move away from passwords toward full biometrics. Voice recognition, gait, and even heartbeat will become standard practice.
Blockchain technologies may offer new approaches to identity verification. Perhaps in the future we will get a single verified digital passport that we manage ourselves — decentralized digital identity (Self-Sovereign Identity, SSI). Such identification systems could improve both security and privacy at the same time.
Banks will invest in predictive analytics. Systems will learn not only to find connections, but to predict fraud attempts at the earliest stages — stopping them before the first transaction happens.
Conclusion: In Search of the Golden Mean
Tracking multiple accounts is not a bank’s whim — it is a harsh necessity. It is the cornerstone of security for the entire digital financial ecosystem. Without it, the financial system would collapse under the weight of fraud.
However, this process must not turn into total surveillance. The key principle of the future is a balanced approach. Banks must ensure security without forgetting the customer’s right to privacy and a good name.
Ordinary users should also understand the risks. To avoid accidentally falling under punitive anti-fraud measures in digital banks, it is important to follow simple security rules.
Using an anti-detect browser can help avoid false triggers by security systems. But it must be done responsibly and consciously. Be careful and do not mix profiles across different services. Each account should have its own unique digital environment.
And of course, use high-quality proxies. Remember: they are needed to ensure a reliable, secure connection. Your digital security is in your hands.
