With Digital Identity and Fraud Set to Take Center Stage at Mobile World Congress 2024, The Mobile Phone Number is Having its Moment

Serving as today’s de facto personal identifier, iconectiv highlights the role of the phone number in keeping commerce flowing, businesses running and consumers engaged

BARCELONA and BRIDGEWATER, NJ – February 15, 2024 — The pervasiveness of digitization across consumers’ personal and professional lives—from mobile banking to healthcare to e-commerce—is highly dependent on their digital identity. It has also created a critical need for solutions that protect consumers and businesses. At the epicenter of digital identity lies the phone number.

While an individual’s digital identity is comprised of several data points or signals, the phone number has globally cemented itself as the key personal identifier, especially with number portability enabling people to keep their phone number for life. One report shows that this year mobile phone numbers will become the primary source of identity for more than 3 billion people.

“When it comes to verifying a digital identity, the phone number is the single most important piece of data that businesses use to verify a person or company,” said Peter Ford, Executive Vice President, Information Services, iconectiv. “Phone numbers are easier to manage because the syntax of the number is consistent on a global scale. In addition, how they are managed, distributed and created is unique and comes with history and metadata that makes it a meaningful asset across every type of identity verification.”

Today, nearly all companies rely on the phone number to conduct a critical part of their business. It is the conduit of a diverse array of communication channels – from voice calls and messaging to two-factor authentication and reusable IDs. In addition to delivering the convenience and simplicity that consumers demand, mobile phone numbers provide the reliable, verifiable data that businesses need and the global ubiquity that other identity signals cannot replicate. As such, ensuring the integrity of the phone number remains intact is of paramount importance.

“While phones were initially established to be a more efficient and accessible way to communicate, they have organically evolved as a consistent indicator used to defend and protect commerce, privacy, data and reputation globally,” Ford said. “That is why it is of the utmost importance that the communications ecosystem band together to create an impenetrable force to keep out bad actors, who use the reach and anonymity of hiding in a digitally connected society for their personal gain.”

iconectiv Puts the Power of the Phone Number on Display at MWC Barcelona

As a neutral, trusted guardian of critical phone number data globally, iconectiv will showcase its digital identity portfolio during MWC Barcelona 2024, February 26-29, 2024 at Fira Gran Via in Barcelona. Designed to provide extensive, authoritative and accessible dynamic phone number intelligence, data sets and identification signals, iconectiv’s digital identity portfolio enables companies to strengthen their Integrated Identity Platform (IIP) posture by helping them quickly categorize customers into the correct risk ratings, save valuable resources, reduce customer friction and make more informed assessments to protect their business and their bottom line.

With capabilities spanning the continuum of the digital verification process – from registration to login to transaction and event monitoring to ongoing engagement – iconectiv’s digital identity portfolio is ideal for FinTech, call centers, e-commerce and every other industry that needs to verify identities.

To learn more, visit iconectiv at MWC Barcelona 2024 or email iconectiv to schedule a meeting.