Page 46 - ITU-T Focus Group Digital Financial Services – Consumer Experience and Protection

ITU-T Focus Group Digital Financial Services
Consumer Experience and Protection

Annex B: Underlying functionalities of DFS applications

Table B.1: Summary of technologies for use case #1

Technique Main features Disadvantages Advantages
SMS Store-and-forward alphanu- Not real-time Globally available
merical messages Interconnection ok
IVR Interaction with user by arti- Requires good speech qual- Real-time
ficial or recorded voice, voice ity transmission
recognition and/or DTMF

DTMF Simple keypad operation Limited character set Real-time

USSD Alphanumerical messages Requires USSD Gateways Real-time

Table B.2: Summary of technologies for use case #2
Technique Main features Disadvantages Advantages

SMS Store-and-forward alphanu- Not real-time Globally available
merical messages Interconnection ok

IVR Interaction with user by arti- Requires good speech qual- Real-time
ficial or recorded voice, voice ity transmission
recognition and/or DTMF
DTMF Simple keypad operation Limited character set Real-time

USSD Alphanumerical messages Requires USSD Gateways Real-time

WAP Simple web browser Limited set of functions Available on some phones
even if they do not support
http
HTTP Standard web browser Unsecure Internet-like access

HTTPS Safe web browser Complex Encrypted, not even sub-
ject to traffic shaping

B.1 Use Case #1

From a pragmatic point of view it is assumed that the Focus Group DFS (FG-DFS) focusses on DFS applications
that can be run using simple mobile feature phones (low-end mobile phones which are limited in capabilities
in contrast to modern smartphones). Therefore we assume in the following that financial services requiring
ftp, http or browser based transactions can be safely excluded from the discussion in this section.

B.1.1 Short Message Service (SMS)

SMS is used to send text messages to and from mobile phones, fax machines and /or IP addresses. The
messages can typically be up to 160 characters in length, though some services use 5-bit mode, which supports
224 characters. SMS was originally created for phones that use GSM (Global System for Mobile) communication,
but now all the major cell phone systems support it. Once a message is sent, it is received by a Short Message
Service Center (SMSC), which must then get it to the appropriate mobile device.

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