Past Challenges
Consumer contract fraud has been particularly problematic in the South African telecommunications industry, as fraudsters provide false identification and banking details to obtain devices illegally. Adding insult to injury, many telcos have been losing out on opportunities to onboard customers online from remote locations due to an inability to successfully verify such prospects. This has specifically posed an issue during lockdown where social distancing had to be enforced by many retailers across the country.
Current Solutions
Telcos are now using technologies such as Digital ID Verification, Fingerprint Verification and Facial Verification to establish identities. Furthermore, to ensure that the bank account credentials of customers are legitimate and that accounts are able to be successfully debited, Bank Account Verification software and Debit Order Authentication applications have been useful tools to guarantee successful debit order collections. This is showing promising increases in collection rates.
The Results
Since all such software applications allow for onboarding customers online via sophisticated user portals, telcos are benefitting from the opportunity to onboard remotely and to not limit themselves by their retail infrastructure.
Since the integration of digital verification, telcos in South Africa have reported seeing an 85% reduction in monthly fraudulent activities and as much as a 54% revenue growth per annum – have a look at software and The Telkom Mobile Case Study for more details. Through digital verification, telcos in SA are broadening their customer base and rendering each new contract issued an effort-less and 100% secure transaction.