Singtel customers can use ID data from a SIM card as extra security layer

Singapore telco Singtel has become the first in the country to offer a SIM-linked security measure. An article in the Straits Times says the SingVerify system can prevent financial fraud scams that use stolen credentials to access bank accounts and other sensitive information, by making the SIM card the final line of defense.

If the phone number on file with a financial institution and real-time telco data from the device being used to gain access does not match with the SIM card registered with that user, the transaction will be denied.

Singtel designed the subscription-based system for banks, e-commerce platforms and other sites for financial transactions. Its first two customers are online trading app Tiger Brokers and mobile authentication service provider IPification.

“With SingVerify, we can augment the multi-factor authentication process by leveraging real-time telco network data and conducting authentication in the background,” says Singtel enterprise managing director Lim Seng Kong. This system mitigates human risk by authenticating logins, and verifying users’ identities for actions such as password resets, adding payees, or making foreign money transfers. SingVerify is binary, identifying a user’s identity as “true or false”, and does not share personal data.

Phishing is on the rise in Singapore, accounting for over ten percent of the 50,376 cases reported in 2023, according to police statistics.

Article Topics

identity verification  |  multifactor authentication  |  SIM card registration  |  Singapore