Orange, Telefónica and Vodafone launch two GSMA Open Gateway anti-fraud APIs

Open Gateway is a global initiative from the industry led by the GSMA. The main goal is to power the opening up of networks so that the telco industry's capabilities can be harnessed to develop digital services. This is done through unique access points to mobile networks known as APIs. As of today, there are 47 mobile carrier group worldwide, representing 239 mobile networks, and 65% of global connections.  
  

Within the framework of this global project, Orange, Telefónica and Vodafone started with the commercial launch of the first APIs in Spain: Number Verification and SIM-Swap. Standardised under the common CAMARA framework, these APIs are focused on helping the Spanish financial services and e-commerce sector combat identity fraud, allowing developers to create additional authentication, verification and security layers within their applications.  

GSMA has convened and led a multi-telecom event to present all the details of this milestone. The day focused on the media and leading journalists, with the aim of resolving all the issues associated with the commercial launch of the initiative in Spain.  
  
At Telefónica Open Gateway, we offered our facilities in Distrito Telefónica —our headquarters in Madrid— to hold the meeting. It took place on 6 February from 11:30 to 12:30 pm, in LaCabina, our space for innovation where we bring together the latest solutions in 5G technology, IoT, blockchain, big data, cloud, edge, Artificial Intelligence and cybersecurity. 
  
In a panel format, telcos discussed Open Gateway tools, their potential to combat digital fraud, the benefits of standardised APIs for the entire digital ecosystem and much more.  

Orange, Telefónica and Vodafone will open their mobile networks to developers from around the world to create more secure digital services and protect the digital identities of mobile customers. Starting up with anti-fraud solutions is big news for sectors such as banking and Fintech, allowing them the possibility to offer services with less risk and a more agile user experience:

• API Number Verification: allows for the integration of a more reliable and simpler phone validation, as an evolution of the OTP (One Time Password) verification processes via SMS. This API relies on the mobile number to perform user authentication, without the need for the user to memorise a code or log out of the application. In this way, developers can offer a more secure, faster validation with less risk of identity friction.
• API SIM Swap: offers the possibility to check whether a phone number has a recently changed SIM card. The confirmation provided by this API allows the bank to be alerted more quickly, reducing the risk of potential fraudulent account takeover attacks, where fraudsters take control of the owner's SIM card and use stolen personal data. 

The main carriers— Orange, Telefónica and Vodafone—have collaborated to start commercialising standardised telco APIs. This is a turning point for the development of digital services, as experience creators will be able to take advantage of the network's capabilities to deliver more powerful next-gen applications.  
  
We at Telefónica Open Gateway are offering our Partner Program to companies, aggregators, hyperscalers or startups that have technical knowledge and relationships with developers and offer their own vertical or use case solutions, marketplaces or API platforms. It aims to offer solutions to companies in all sectors, so that they can provide their customers with standardised and easily programmable Telco APIs. It also provides access to a variety of resources, including white papers, technical and commercial documentation on our tools. It also provides End2End technical and business support during the entire process of integration and commercialisation of solutions based on our APIs.