France’s four leading mobile operators – Bouygues Telecom, Free, Orange and SFR – have announced they will join forces to provide services designed to help app developers and enterprises tackle online fraud and protect the digital identities of mobile customers as part of the global GSMA Open Gateway initiative.
The operators are launching two network Application Programmable Interfaces (APIs) for the French market – KYC Match and SIM Swap – developed to the new CAMARA standard which aims to align specifications across mobile operators.
France is the first country in the world where all four major operators are launching the API called KYC Match, which strengthens how online businesses can verify new customer’s identities. Several of the operators are also making Number Verification available to the developer community.
France has seen a 37% increase in online transactions since the Covid pandemic, totalling €2.35 billion in 2023, with 77% of these taking place over mobile devices. But alongside this, 80% of French companies say they experienced online fraud attempts with 45% stating that online fraud has increased over the last 12 months.
The number of digital identity theft cases has risen by 40% over the past four years according to figures from the French Ministry of Interior. These new APIs will help protect consumers’ mobile identities by adding an additional layer of defence against fraudsters.
