Page 13 - FIGI - Use of telecommunications data for digital financial inclusion

3.2.1 Subscriber identification data calling and data plans and the frequency and value
At the outset, operators typically collect and hold of top-ups. Subscriber information also includes a
information about the subscriber, particularly where purchase history for a variety of additional products
they are required to do so by know-your-customer and services, such as mobile devices and accesso-
(KYC) regulation. Subscriber information will include ries, mobile apps, and other services.
a subscriber’s full name, address, nationality, tele-
phone number, and possibly an email address, a 3.2.3 Device data
government-issued identification number (such as The telecommunications network will record the
a passport or National ID number), and biometric brand, model and operating system of the device
information such as a picture, fingerprint, or copy of a customer is using. This offers insight as to a
a government-issued photo ID. customer’s level of consumer spending capabili-
ty or disposable income. Where linked to identity
3.2.2 Order and billing data data, it becomes possible to link devices to the same
Just as network equipment generates data, applica- customer. While cross-device identity data is often
tions used to manage telecommunications opera- obtained using email addresses, social media logins
tors’ business operations generate data. This includes and validated linked accounts from different devices,
sales data, payments data, trouble ticket data, churn it can also be collected using data signals such as
data, order and fulfilment data, and billing data. matching locations, IP addresses, types of browsers,
For post-paid accounts, operators have records of and similarities of the operating systems. Cross-de-
customer payment information and potentially other vice data enables cross-device tracking, fuller data
data such as bank or other transaction account infor- about the customer, and more targeted messaging
mation. For pre-paid accounts, which are particularly for instance for customer engagement purposes (see
relevant for financial inclusion, operators have data section 5.1 below).
as to decisions made by subscribers with respect to

4 USE OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS DATA IN DFS

Telecommunications data is used in multiple ways,
sometimes on its own as reviewed here. Where CRM DATA
people are already users of digital financial services, Socioeconomic features
they will have begun to establish a history of finan- • Age
• Gender
cial transactions. This may begin with use of mobile • Estimated customer income
money, in which case a significant amount of direct • High risk ZIP code
financial behavioural history may be combined with • Regional area code
the telecommunications data. Where the customer • Device brand Product features
has used digital credit, they will even have a credit • Device operating system
history with the lender in question. • Device type
The combination of telecommunications data with • Line type
such financial data is rich. The more the customer • Line status
• Line quantity
builds a credit history with the lender in question, the • Late payments
more weight will be given to that credit history, while • Month elapsed since activation
the importance of telecommunications data in ana- Source: Pedro, J. S., Proserpio, D., & Oliver, N. (2015).
lysing creditworthiness will recede. MobiScore: Towards Universal Credit Scoring from
Mobile Phone Data. In User Modeling, Adaptation
and Personalization (pp. 195–207). Springer, Cham.
.
.
https:// doi org/ 10 1007/ 978 -3 -319 -20267 -9 _16

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