FIBE is one of those events where you arrive with a clear agenda and leave with twice as many things to think about. This year, at CityCube Berlin on April 15–16, the conversations on stage – and even more so the ones off it – made one thing clear: the financial industry is at a genuine inflection point.
We were there with our team, our customers and our infamous branded fanny pack. Watch the video from FIBE 2026 and read our summary of what we took away from it.
1. AI is reshaping the industry, and not just in the ways you’d expect
Everyone at FIBE was talking about AI. From generative AI empowering fintechs to the very real threat of AI-driven fraud, it was the thread running through almost every session. And it’s a topic we feel acutely in the identity verification space.
Our CEO Andreas Bodczek put it plainly: “AI is amplifying both sides. It’s helping us protect people faster and smarter, but it’s also arming fraudsters with tools that are more sophisticated than anything we’ve seen before. The answer isn’t to slow down on AI adoption. It’s to build identity infrastructure that keeps pace.”
2. AMLR and eIDAS 2.0 are no longer “future problems”
Regulation dominated the FIBE agenda this year and rightly so. AMLR is harmonising AML rules across Europe in a way that will fundamentally change how financial institutions verify and monitor their customers. eIDAS 2.0 is mandating EUDI wallets. Both are coming faster than most organisations are prepared for.
What we heard repeatedly on the floor was a mixture of urgency and uncertainty. People know the regulation is coming. Many aren’t sure yet what it means for their specific setup. That’s exactly the gap we’re helping customers close.
Curious where to start? We’ve put together everything you need to know about AMLR and what it means for your organisation.
3. One-time KYC is no longer enough – welcome to TYC
This was one of the most energising conversations we had at FIBE, and it’s one we think the industry needs to have louder.
Know Your Customer (KYC) has always been framed as an onboarding checkpoint. You verify someone once, they’re in. But that model doesn’t reflect reality anymore. A myriad of fraud typologies happen post-onboarding and regulatory obligations don’t end at sign-up neither, meaning customer risk profiles change over time.
The shift we’re seeing and building for is towards Trust Your Customer (TYC). Ongoing, dynamic, continuous identity assurance across the entire user lifecycle. Our Sales Director Central Europe Sebastian Lehmer explains it simply:
4. The biggest competitive differentiator is what happens after onboarding
Ask most identity verification providers what they do, and they’ll talk about onboarding. And the most important topics? Smooth sign-up flows, fast document checks and conversion rates, of course.
However, what we heard from prospects and customers at our booth (and what our VP Sales Central Europe Alex Maier articulates well) is that the organisations asking the right questions are no longer just asking “how do we verify customers at sign-up?” They’re asking, “how do we maintain trust across the entire relationship?”
And this is what separates us from the competition.
5. The best conversations happened away from the stage
FIBE’s programme this year was genuinely strong, with panels on fraud prevention, AI in fintech, cyber threats, and the next generation of European fintech champions – all of which kept the main stage buzzing. But if we’re honest, the conversations that mattered most to us happened at our booth.
Customers telling us what’s working and what their focus is on the next few quarters. Prospects asking hard questions, and yes, a surprising number of people asking about our fanny pack. That curious, direct, forward-looking energy is exactly why we keep coming back to FIBE.
The bottom line
The identity verification industry is at an inflection point. AI, regulation, and rising expectations from customers and regulators are converging at once. We think that’s an opportunity, with FIBE reminding us that a lot of people in this industry feel the same way.
If any of these conversations resonated, we’d love to keep them going.
See how IDnow is built for what’s coming → https://www.idnow.io/future-of-amlr-identification-2027/
Want to see more from FIBE 2026? Check out the stories from regular attendees and the team’s take on why we were there in the first place — all on our YouTube channel.
By
Nikita Rybová
Customer & Product Marketing Manager at IDnow
Connect with Nikita on LinkedIn
