The Future of Digital Identity Unveiled at Improve 2025

Last week, more than 200 leaders from across the worlds of fraud prevention, digital identity, and customer experience gathered in Charlotte, NC, for Prove’s Improve 2025 Summit. The annual event, hosted with our partners About Fraud and Fraud Fight Club, has quickly become one of the most important forums for bringing together banks, fintechs, technology providers, and customer experience leaders to discuss the evolving challenges and opportunities in building digital trust.

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In an environment where fraud threats are becoming more sophisticated, consumer expectations for seamless digital experiences are higher than ever, and regulations are rapidly evolving, Improve 2025 was a dynamic platform for industry experts, innovators, and business leaders to share best practices, exchange ideas, and explore the next generation of identity and authentication solutions. Attendees came to learn and network with peers and shape the future of secure, customer-centric digital interactions.

Women Who Prove: The Future in Bloom

The summit began on an inspiring note with “Women Who Prove: The Future in Bloom,” a panel celebrating female leadership and innovation in the fields of digital identity, fraud prevention, and customer experience. The panel discussion included some of the industry’s most influential voices, who shared their perspectives on navigating challenges, driving innovation, and shaping the future of trust in digital ecosystems.

The panel featured Ashley Kiolbasa, CMO at Prove; Kristen O’Neill, Vice President and IDV & Fraud Strategy Leader at Huntington Bank; Priya Krishnamoorthy, Customer Onboarding Authentication & KYC Senior Product Manager at U.S. Bank; and Stefanie Kirchheimer, SVP and Head of U.S. Insider, Conduct, and Fraud Risk Management at TD Bank. Together, these leaders set the tone for the event by emphasizing collaboration, innovation, and the importance of diverse perspectives in addressing some of the industry’s most complex challenges. 

“Women Who Prove” demonstrated that the future of fraud prevention and digital identity is not defined by technology alone, but also by empowering the people and leaders who make transformation possible.

Exploring the Key Issues in Digital Identity

Over two days, attendees engaged in in-depth sessions covering the future of authentication, fraud strategy, digital payments, and customer experience transformation. 

October 7 began with a keynote delivered by Darrell Esch, former CEO of Venmo, Head of PayPal Credit and Checkout, and SVP Payments at Bank of America. Drawing from his extensive leadership experience in payments and digital finance, Esch emphasized the importance of grounding innovation in purpose. He shared lessons on how leaders can balance profitability with responsibility, ensuring that advancements in identity and payments technology deliver lasting value for both businesses and consumers.

Later, Rodger Desai, CEO and Co-Founder of Prove, and Scott Bonnell, CRO at Prove, explored how digital identity has been redefined over the past decade. What once began as a focus on fraud prevention has now evolved into a major growth engine for enterprises across industries. Their session underscored how identity solutions are no longer seen as a defensive necessity, but rather as a catalyst for customer acquisition, engagement, and loyalty.

In the Product Innovation Keynote, Prove product leaders showcased how cutting-edge product strategy is shaping what’s next. James Jaworski, Director of Product; Rich Rezek, Head of Platform and Solution Strategy; Ryan Alexander, Global Head of Fraud; and Steve Craig, Head of Servicing Strategy each shared their perspective on how Prove is tackling some of the most pressing challenges in digital identity. Together, they painted a picture of a future where trust can be embedded invisibly into every digital interaction: faster, more secure, and with less friction.

One of the most powerful moments of the event came from a session featuring real-life stories and use cases. Alexander Sjögren, Head of Product at Paze; Karen Boyer, SVP of Financial Crimes and Fraud Intelligence at M&T Bank; Linda Mantia, Corporate Director, Advisor, and fraud industry leader; and Naaz Nichols, Chief Experience Officer at Care.com, shared candid accounts of how identity and fraud solutions are playing out in practice. These stories brought to life the challenges organizations face, the strategies they employ, and the real impact of digital trust on everyday consumers.

In addition to these featured moments, attendees had the opportunity to dive deep into some of the most urgent topics facing the industry today, including:

• The opportunities and risks of the stablecoin revolution
• How to reimagine trust in a new era by balancing innovation with risk and responsibility
• The growing convergence of identity and payments
• The global policy landscape and how identity sits at a crossroads of public trust

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Launch of the Prove Identity Graph

Attendees also got a first look at the Prove Identity Graph, the new foundation of Prove’s platform and the future of digital trust.

The Identity Graph is a global identity fabric, already operating at massive scale, covering nearly half of the world’s population across 227 countries and territories. Unlike legacy approaches that rely on static, one-time identity checks, the Identity Graph creates a persistent, deterministic network that unifies tokenized identities with the devices, credentials, and authenticators that prove ownership.

With Prove’s Identity Graph, businesses can:

• Welcome customers instantly with frictionless onboarding.
• Know them and recognize them with persistent trust across accounts, devices, and lifecycle events.
• Grow relationships with personalized, relevant, and secure experiences.

As Rodger and Scott explained in their session, this is a transformational leap forward in how identity is managed, authenticated, and trusted globally.

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Building the Future of Digital Trust

The lessons learned from Improve covered a lot of ground, but perhaps most importantly, they explained the intersection of fraud prevention and digital customer experiences by emphasizing the importance of collaboration, innovation, and proactive strategies. By integrating insights from all of these incredible industry experts and leveraging cutting-edge technologies showcased at the event, organizations can enhance their fraud prevention measures while simultaneously optimizing the customer journey. 

We want to thank all of the attendees, speakers, partners, customers, and friends who participated. And a special thanks to our great partners and friends, About Fraud and Fraud Fight Club.

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