Select your language
In 2025, trust in fintech is earned not through perimeter defenses, but by verifying every request.
The advancement of digital banking, instant payments, and embedded finance has opened fintech applications to cyberattacks. Traditional “castle-and-moat” security is simply not enough; once an attacker breaches the perimeter and gets inside, they have free rein. According to IBM’s 2025 Cybersecurity report, financial services are the most attacked industry and had an average cost per breach of $6.2 million.
Zero-Trust Architecture (ZTA) flips this model by creating the rule that no device, user, or application is trusted by default and every request for access is verified in real time.
Zero Trust is increasingly important for fintech due to two significant regulatory shifts:
The Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA), which begins in January 2025, will require EU financial institutions to demonstrate continuous operational resilience, conduct risk assessments, and undertake incident response.
The newest version of PCI DSS (4.0), which becomes mandatory in March 2025, increases the authentication and data segmentation obligations for organizations handling payment card information.
At the same time, consumer expectations have evolved—in this new era of passkeys, biometric authentication, and frictionless security experiences.
Passwordless login (FIDO2/Web Authn) is phishing-resistant by default; step-up authentication is invoked only if risk signals are detected.
Every API call and transaction is assessed in regard to contextual factors: health of the device, geolocation, size of transaction, and behavioral config (e.g., trend of user behavior).
Payment processing, user data, and analytics environments can be isolated to prevent lateral functionality in the case of a breach.
Dynamic policies ensure that users and services have only the access required for their current action.
AI-driven fraud detection will analyze transaction speed, detect unusual patterns, and detect anomalies in devices, all in milliseconds.
Revolut, a global leader in fintech, embraced Zero Trust throughout its infrastructure in 2024. It uses device-bound passkeys, short-lived access tokens, and continuous risk-based authentication - resulting in over a 40% reduction in account takeover incidents.
Zero Trust is no longer optional in fintech—it’s a regulatory and competitive necessity. Apps that combine strong authentication, continuous verification, and micro-segmentation will not only reduce risk but also build lasting customer trust.
