NIST Ranks Daon #1 in Global Biometric Facial Image Quality Benchmarking

Fairfax, VA – September 16, 2025 – Daon®, The Digital Identity Trust Company, today announced that its facial image quality assessment algorithm has ranked first globally in the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s (NIST) Face Analysis Technology Evaluation (FATE) Quality test. Daon’s algorithm beat 56 other entries submitted by biometric vendors worldwide, delivering the most accurate facial image processing across millions of test cases.

According to Juniper Research, the number of digital identity verification and authentication checks will surpass 86 billion in 2025, up from 75 billion in 2024, demonstrating an increasing reliance on digitally uploaded images. The first step in ensuring the accuracy of fraud and deepfake detection efforts is assessing the quality of uploaded images, determining at the outset whether captured images are suitable for downstream tasks such as face matching, liveness detection, and watchlist identification. Image quality assessment algorithms (QAAs) are particularly important in areas such as border control, where captured images may not have ideal pose, illumination, or resolution.

“Quality assessment is critical to delivering reliable biometric capabilities,” said Michael Peirce, Chief Scientist at Daon. “Our algorithms identify subtle quality indicators that directly translate to better outcomes for our customers’ identity processes. By filtering out problematic images upfront, organizations achieve higher accuracy rates while reducing false rejections that frustrate legitimate users.”

NIST evaluates QAAs by asking them to score every face image in a vast dataset, from clear and well-lit photos to ones obscured by shadows, glare, or blur. Each image is then tested against 15 of the world’s most accurate verification algorithms, with a recognition threshold set so that the false non-match rate (FNMR) is initially 1%. The test then removes the lowest-scoring 1% or 5% of images and recalculates the FNMR across those 15 algorithms to see whether discarding poor images improves accuracy. In the critical 5% scenario, Daon’s algorithm proved best at filtering out the “poor images” that typically cause errors, cutting false rejections to the lowest rate of any competitor with an FNMR of just 0.0030. By accurately assessing image quality, downstream processes from face matching to liveness detection are more accurate.

“Achieving the top ranking in a NIST evaluation is an extraordinary validation of our team’s innovation and commitment to accuracy,” said Tom Grissen, CEO at Daon. “Quality is the first step in every successful biometric process. By ensuring that only the strongest images are used, our algorithm enhances the performance of any downstream biometric task, whether that’s onboarding a banking customer, enabling secure border crossings, or protecting a high-risk transaction. This milestone shows that trust in digital identity starts with getting quality right.”

Daon’s success in the NIST FATE Quality test builds on its quarter-century of expertise in biometric innovation and identity assurance. While many biometric vendors compete on access to massive datasets, Daon’s achievement highlights that quality algorithms are not simply a matter of scale. Instead, they depend on advanced AI models capable of discerning subtle image features that impact recognition accuracy. By excelling in this area, Daon strengthens its broader identity verification and biometric authentication solutions, enabling governments, financial institutions, and enterprises around the world to deliver more accurate and reliable identity experiences.

For more information on Daon’s NIST #1 ranking or the company’s suite of identity solutions, visit www.daon.com/nist-qaa.

About Daon
Daon, The Digital Identity Trust Company, delivers fraud-resistant, low-friction digital identity solutions that support onboarding and authentication at every trust point across the customer lifecycle. With industry-leading, cross-channel, biometric identity verification and multi-factor authentication, Daon enables its clients to empower each customer with a single, secure digital identity that balances maximum fraud prevention with ease of use. Delivered on robust, AI-powered platforms designed to counter even the most sophisticated AI-driven fraud, Daon’s innovative, privacy-first solutions eliminate key threat vectors and help ensure regulatory compliance while allowing businesses to offer a seamless, accessible customer experience that increases satisfaction and lowers costs. That is why Daon is trusted by global leaders in financial services, telecommunications, travel & hospitality, the public sector, and more to process hundreds of millions of digital identity transactions each day.