In this recent MEF webinar, messaging innovator and MEF Global Board Member Dr. Marco Lafrentz talks with MEF CEO Dario Betti about powerful tools that can serve as the messaging ecosystem’s greatest allies in combatting fraud. Lafrentz, also VP of Business & Market Development at number intelligence as a service (NiaaS) solutions provider, netnumber, emphasized how the industry can more effectively monetize numbering and connectivity assets while delivering innovative services.
Text messaging has become a mainstay in our society, providing a robust communications channel – particularly among the next generation – due to its ease of use and speed.
But with this rapid-fire communication – an estimated two trillion-plus text messages sent annually – comes a magnet for fraudsters, resulting in diluted trust among end-users.
In response, new messaging applications, such as passkeys, OTT apps (i.e., WhatsApp) and APIs, have proliferated, seeking to strengthen trust in messaging. In addition, regulators have stepped up with various new rules and guidelines to rein in malicious texting schemes.
SMS Reigns As the Preferred Business Messaging Protocol
SMS is particularly popular for business messaging. Enterprises say it is simple and easy to use while delivering higher results and cost-efficiency as they reach large customer groups.”
As the mobile industry continues to evolve – and industry innovators such as WhatsApp and Viber make their presence known – SMS holds strong as the most popular messaging protocol. SMS (or Short Message Service) uses standardized communication protocols that let mobile phones exchange short text messages, typically transmitted over cellular networks. Its ongoing significance owes a lot to its dependability and cost-effectiveness.
SMS also gets points for security due to its encryption and GDPR-compliant practices, ensuring secure and private communication.
SMS is particularly popular for business messaging. Enterprises say it is simple and easy to use while delivering higher results and cost-efficiency as they reach large customer groups.
Sender ID Registries Offer Important Anti-Fraud Tool
As the mobile ecosystem continues to battle fraud, the netnumber Service Registry (nnSR) provides a powerful solution for outwitting texting fraudsters in North America. In fact, this highly regarded industry database underlies and enables this critical communication channel to proceed.
The nnSR collects, manages and distributes authoritative routing information for the telecom messaging industry in North America. Launched by netnumber in 2008, the nnSR has gained interest throughout the world as a model for improved message routing, prompting other countries to consider adopting this approach.
What’s more, two countries have recently followed suit, with mandated sender registries now operating in Italy and Singapore. Moreover, registries are under consideration in Ireland and Australia.
Top 4 Essential Advantages of the nnSR
In this webinar, we highlight the advantages and benefits of the nnSR. From deterring spoofing acts to facilitating the real-time distribution of granular phone number information, read on for key takeaways and learn more about the power of this essential registry.
1. Major Spoofing Deterrent
The nnSR enables sender ID registration for A2P messaging in North America and has resulted in a vast reduction in message spoofing in the U.S. market. In text spoofing, fraudsters hijack phone numbers in an attempt to trick consumers into thinking they are receiving texts from a legitimate source, such as a bank. Using this approach, bad actors seek to steal money or key account information from unsuspecting consumers.
By registering APIs with the nnSR, carriers can access real-time number validation and verification processes that serve as a powerful tool to fight spoofing and other fraud. This capability also helps carriers ensure that their messages always reach the correct subscriber while avoiding the cost of undelivered communications.
Solutions based on the power of phone number intelligence data lie at the heart of any quality number verification tool. By using real-time phone number intelligence data, carriers can reliably and accurately validate phone numbers from any country in the world to screen for potential fraud.
The nnSR also serves as a central component of U.S. business messaging by storing the telephone numbers provided by carriers for use as 10DLC sender IDs. 10 DLCs can support large volumes of text messages and have emerged as a pivotal tool for businesses to communicate with their customers. U.S. carriers are now requiring all businesses and CPaaS providers to use 10DLC-registered numbers when sending A2P messages to their networks. (For more information on how businesses can adopt 10DLC messaging, download the new MEF guide).
2. nnSR® Boosts Monetizing Services
In addition to Sender ID Registry services, the nnSR enables the industry to more effectively monetize their numbering and connectivity assets and deliver innovative services to their end users:
3. Text-Enablement (Programmable SMS)
This nnSR capability makes it possible for carriers to use landline numbers, which are typically easy and cost-effective to obtain, and transform them into fully-fledged 2-way messaging numbers. This saves carriers money on number acquisition, provides added functionality, and is a model that could be expanded to other countries.
4. MVNO Discovery and Routing
The nnSR function facilitates real-time distribution of granular phone number information, helping to address the industry’s long-time struggle with correctly identifying phone numbers belonging to Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs). Accurate MVNO discovery is essential for routing, high delivery rates, optimal conversion and proper billing, This has made the nnSR’s provision of MVNO Discovery a highly valued industry service.
To learn more about industry resources that are helpful in combatting fraud, including the nnSR, watch the full webinar session above.
