Authoritative Mobile Phone Number Data Amps Up Fraud Prevention in the Finance Industry

iconectiv explains how financial institutions can use valuable phone data to help thwart account takeovers, money laundering and other vulnerabilities

BRIDGEWATER, NJ - September 24, 2024 - With mobile phones and phone numbers now serving as the primary way for more than 3 billion people worldwide to identify themselves when buying and selling online, conducting financial transactions, opening accounts, verifying their age and authenticating themselves to contact centers, fraudsters are now using these strings of digits and their associated devices as one of their prime attack vectors. Nearly half of all fraud reported to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission starts with a text message or a phone call.

As a result, banks, credit card companies, payment gateways, e-commerce providers and other financial services organizations should reassess how they obtain and use mission-critical information about each phone number – a topic that is at the heart of a newly available iconectiv Market Brief: strengthen your fraud solutions with authoritative data.

Along with each phone number and its associated device comes a variety of insights – from line type to SIM tenure, porting history, service provider ownership and more – that can enable customer service, marketing, risk management, fraud prevention and other departments to quickly and confidently verify a person’s identity, detect possible phone scams and support other business processes. As a result, authoritative up-to-date phone number data from a trusted source is now a must-have component for any fraud deterrent solution designed for the financial services market and critical for ensuring compliance with both telecommunications and anti-money-laundering regulations.

“There is no question that the mobile phone number has become the globally preferred digital identity method for consumers and businesses alike,” said Peter Ford, Executive Vice President of iconectiv. “Because of their global use and ubiquity, fintech companies – including fraud deterrent, identification verification and risk assurance companies – have the opportunity to leverage authoritative mobile phone number data to enhance and differentiate their solutions and provide their financial service customers with robust offerings to mitigate account takeovers, streamline registration/account setup, stop and block fraud throughout the customer journey, and more.”

To learn more about how authoritative mobile phone number data can serve as a deterrent for fraud in the financial services sector, download the iconectiv market brief here.