Banks Need Revocable AI Identities, Continuous Trust Models

Fraud Specialist David Barnhardt on Addressing Authentication Risks of Agentic AI Suparna Goswami (gsuparna) • February 18, 2026

Financial institutions are racing to deploy artificial intelligence agents that can initiate payments, approve transactions and freeze accounts. But traditional authentication frameworks assume there's a human on the other end. As agentic AI use grows, banks are facing an authentication crisis that demands new controls.

See Also: On-Demand | NYDFS MFA Compliance: Real-World Solutions for Financial Institutions

When an agent drifts from its intended behavior, banks need visibility into both intent and integrity, said David Barnhardt, strategic advisor for fraud and anti-money laundering at Datos Insights. Institutions must move beyond identity checks and validate delegated authority with managed, revocable digital identities for AI systems and continuous models that detect scope creep.

"Authentication will have to evolve from solely verifying identity to validating and verifying delegated authority," Barnhardt said.

Financial institutions need managed, revocable ...