Veriff releases new report on the hidden cost of verification friction in mobility

Veriff has released The Future of Mobility Report 2026: The Cost of Friction and Fraud. exploring how identity verification is becoming one of the biggest hidden drivers of growth, trust, and operational performance across ridesharing, food delivery, and last-mile logistics platforms.

The report reveals that fraud and onboarding friction are often treated as separate challenges when, in reality, they create the same outcome: lost revenue, slower growth, and increased operational costs.

Fraud is becoming more expensive than ever

Identity fraud reached record levels in 2025, with fraud detected in 4.18% of all verification attempts. More than 85% of these cases were impersonation fraud, highlighting the growing sophistication of bad actors and the increasing pressure on mobility platforms to prevent account misuse before it impacts customers and operations.

Onboarding friction can be as damaging as fraud

Many operators focus on stopping bad actors at sign-up, but excessive verification friction often drives away legitimate earners before they complete onboarding. Every abandoned application increases customer acquisition costs, delays supply activation, and reduces marketplace liquidity. The report examines how verification bottlenecks directly affect conversion rates and growth metrics across mobility platforms.

One-time verification creates a false sense of trust

A successful onboarding check no longer guarantees ongoing trust. The report highlights how account sharing, account renting, and AI-powered identity fraud can undermine platforms long after an account has been verified. As a result, trust can no longer be established through a single point-in-time check.

Legacy systems are struggling against modern fraud

Advances in generative AI have made synthetic identities, deepfakes, and sophisticated impersonation attempts easier to create and harder to detect. The report explores why traditional document-based verification approaches are increasingly ineffective against these emerging fraud vectors and why continuous trust signals are becoming essential.

Modern verification infrastructure is easier to deploy than many operators assume

The report also challenges the perception that stronger identity verification requires large-scale engineering projects. Modern verification solutions can be integrated through standard APIs and SDKs, delivering automated decisions in seconds while helping platforms maintain compliance, reduce fraud, and improve onboarding conversion.

Inside the report, readers will find practical guidance on building continuous trust frameworks, real-world examples from mobility platforms across Europe and the Americas, and a detailed breakdown of the operational and financial impact of identity-related failures at scale.