Reliance Jio Infocomm, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea are also hoping to use this to counter fraud that occurs through so-called SIM mirroring to breach bank accounts and other secure digital enclaves.
Tackling The Password Fatigue :-
Presently, customers have to wait for a four-to-six digit onetime password (OTP) to come on their smartphone after providing their mobile numbers to an app or site to do a financial transaction. This unique number has to be fed for the transaction to be completed. In case of any delay, the transaction gets timed out, forcing customers to toggle between sites. The transaction could even get stalled in some cases, with money going out of the account.
“It is leading to password fatigue across age groups. We are working on this kind of mobile identity, which will ensure secure transactions in one shot,” said a senior executive at one of the operators told the business daily.
This feature which is getting piloted currently, should be available to all by the first half of 2021, depending on regulatory clearances according to telecom executives.
Unified API :-
The publication quoted Rajdipkumar Gupta, managing director at Route Mobile as saying “Route Mobile will offer these services to enterprises directly. On the one hand, we build the identity layer by liaising with operators. On the other hand, we offer a unified API (application programming interface) that brands can leverage to enable Mobile Identity services for authenticating users. So the enterprises will have to pay vendors like us to avail this service and we pay operators.”
The API is a software intermediary that allows two applications to talk to each other. According to the telecom executive cited earlier, there won’t be any reduction in security measures.
The executive said “Earlier, one had two-step security process — punch in the mobile number and wait for the OTP. Now, the same two-step process is used — your mobile number and then the verification”.
The founder of techARC, Faisal Kawoosa, told the business daily that this will curb SIM mirroring, which is on the increase. “Financial transactions should be allowed on this too, and although customers may initially hesitate to opt for this, they will soon get used to no OTP” he said.
