Page 118 - ITU-T Focus Group Digital Financial Services – Technology, innovation and competition

ITU-T Focus Group Digital Financial Services
Technology, Innovation and Competition

7.2.1 CLI

The CLI method allows a user to simply dial a specific number, and the system captures the number and bills
the user at a rate associated with that called number. This was first demonstrated by MTN South Africa in 1995
with its remote interactive voice response (RIVR) service , but is very seldom in use today.
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7.2.2 IVR

IVR is a technology that allows a user to interact with system inputs via the handsets keypad. In most IVR
incarnations, users are prompted by a recorded voice to input specific numbers on the keypad that then allows
access to data or services. They are usually associated with customer care calls and for access to certain VAS,
but at premium rates.
The new Airtel India Payments Bank also uses IVR for primary DFS access for its customers. ABSA bank in
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South Africa allows its customers to access the terms of conditions of its DFS banking offering through IVR.
Users can also choose from multiple official languages.

7.2.3 NSDT

NSDT is a method of connecting a merchant with a customer for payment using handsets and merchant point
of sale (POS) exchanging payment credentials with encrypted but silent data.
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7.3 Text-based

7.3.1 SMS and short codes

SMS is used in DFS primarily as an authentication and verification mechanism for fiat-backed DFS account
transactions, as well as the initiation mechanism for purchasing VAS using the mobile airtime-based stored
value account. The person-2-machine (P2M) SMS sent by the user may act as a payment to the VAS provider.
The special number which the user sends the P2M SMS as payment is known as a ‘short code’ and is usually 5
digits long and common to all MNOs in a country. P2M SMSs are the mobile progenitors for the development
of fiat-backed DFS mobile transactional platforms.

7.3.2 STK
STK - also referred to as SIM toolkit - is a SMS-based remote access and UI GSM technology used to provide
DFS and related services to markets where basic and feature phones are the plurality. As with USSD, STK is
especially prevalent in developing countries where entry-level basic and feature phones are mostly used. STK
is currently one of the most extensively and globally used mobile interfaces in DFS other than USSD.

A specialized SIM to host the STK application and STK-compatible phone is required. STK technology is embedded
on the SIM card, allowing special applications for DFS and banking services to be accessed by the subscriber
using custom menus stored on the SIM card. The STK will usually use SMS as a bearer for communication
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with a host, usually encrypting the cleartext SMS to/from the handset and STK server.
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53 See Perlman (2003) ibid; Perlman (2010) ibid; and Perlman (2012) ibid.
54 Airtel (2016) India’s first Payments Bank goes LIVE, available at http:// www. airtel. in/ about- bharti/ media- centre/ bharti- airtel-
news/ corporate/ india++first+payments+bank+goes+live- airtel+payments+bank+starts+pilot+services+in+rajasthan
55 See Section 7.2.3 on NSDT.
56 These commands are standard for all mobile equipment and defined by European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI)
and Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) specifications.
57 While STK can use USSD as a bearer, in practice, SMS is mostly used as the STK bearer in DFS implementations.

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