LONDON, January 23, 2018
Payfone, the world’s leading digital identity authentication company, and UK mobile network operator O2, today announced that they have signed a partnership contract to protect mobile users against cyber-hacks, account takeover attacks, SIM swap attacks, and other forms of digital fraud.
Payfone and O2 are launching this initiative to address the rapidly growing demand for mobile identity authentication services in the United Kingdom and Europe as more companies continue to realize the necessity of advanced multi-factor authentication solutions in the wake of increased incidences of digital fraud. The partnership leverages Payfone’s Instant Authentication for Mobile solution, which is already being used by 6 of the top 10 banks in the United States, allowing UK enterprises to be able to extend fast, secure and transparent authentication to their customers.
Payfone’s patented next-generation solution works through something users already have—mobile phones. This allows companies to eliminate ineffective and vulnerable two-factor authentication methods like SMS one-time passcodes and knowledge-based authentication to safeguard their users against account takeover attacks and SS7 attacks while simultaneously making the user experience faster and easier. The service uses real-time authentication via O2 that works behind-the-scenes with no on-device software.
“We are honored to partner with O2 to introduce a safer and more seamless digital world for mobile users in the UK,” said Rodger Desai, Chief Executive Officer, Payfone. “Payfone is already on track to authenticate 50,000,000 transactions per day in the United States, and extending our capabilities into the United Kingdom is a major milestone for us as we continue our expansion into 35 worldwide markets.”
Danny Barclay, Head of Digital Commerce at O2, commented, “O2’s customer-led strategy has us working on numerous projects and programmes to protect businesses and consumers, by making every interaction as safe, simple and secure as possible. As the first UK network to provide these services, we are taking active steps to help reduce the incidences of digital fraud and protect our users’ Digital Identities.”
About Payfone
Payfone is the leader in mobile and digital identity authentication for the connected world. We are trusted by the world’s largest banks, insurers, brokerages and technology companies to enable effortless user experiences by instantly authenticating new user account openings, mobile and web logins, text and chat sessions, and inbound and outbound call center calls. It’s all done through our patented platform, which dynamically analyzes millions of digital signals against multiple authentication factors to generate our proprietary Trust Score for each mobile identity—the only measure of mobile and digital trust of its kind on the market today.
About O2
Telefónica UK Limited is a leading digital communications company owned by Telefónica S.A. O2 is the commercial brand of Telefónica UK Limited and is the mobile network operator with the highest customer satisfaction in the UK according to Ofcom. With over 25 million customers, O2 runs 2G, 3G and 4G networks across the UK, as well as operating its nationwide O2 Wifi service.