How mobile devices are transforming online identity

A seismic shift is underway. The world is going mobile and mobile devices now have the potential to transform online identity, delivering new levels of security and a frictionless user experience.

Desktop is giving way to mobile

• Mobile has become the primary computer
• 64% of all internet traffic comes from mobile devices

Ease of use, rich functionality and the fact that the mobile phone is always with you, are helping drive the transition from desktop. Many emerging markets have always been mobile-first (having skipped the broadband internet stage entirely and gone straight to mobile). Now the rest of the world is catching up.

User expectations have changed

An entire generation has now grown up with internet-connected mobile devices. This is the new normal. The instant availability, service ubiquity and high speed have created a benchmark for user expectations.

• Everything needs to be now.
• Wherever you are.
• No waiting. No hassle.

This applies to security too – if it gets in the way of the user experience, users will no longer accept it.

Your mobile number is already your identity

You now phone the person, not their home number or their business – we don’t even think about that anymore. But it’s a BIG change from how we behaved just a few years ago.

Your mobile phone:

• You take it everywhere, you pay with it
• You share the number with your friends and family
• You are likely to keep that same number your entire life
• If you lose the phone, you are really stuck

The mobile number, as an identity, is already incredibly successful – over 5 billion people have a mobile phone number.  And, when coupled with the SIM card, it is very secure – that technology is already deployed in every mobile phone and every mobile network, and it underpins over $1trillion of mobile network revenue every year. Fully secure and invisible.

Game-changing mobile technology is now available

With mobile phones being everywhere and technology improving in both networks and devices, new ways are emerging to tackle long-standing online identity and security challenges.

Mobile Number + SIM card as a possession factor is the only fully secure, globally unique digital identity credential in the world and is already deployed to over 5 billion people.

But until recently, use of the mobile number and SIM card together as a cryptographically secure digital identifier with possession factor-based authentication, had only been available to the mobile networks themselves. Now, for the first time, this mobile identity and authentication capability is being made available to businesses via APIs. This will be a game-changer for online identity.

Download our white paper and learn how to get started with Mobile Identity.