The increasing level of fraud, terrorism and other illicit uses, are part of major reasons regulators across Africa must not soft-pedal on the clampdown on unregistered SIM cards, in addition to the massive benefit to MNO’s for additional services to be provided, said Nadeem Juma, the chairman and co-founder of AIM Group.

AIM Group is an innovation and digital agency founded in Tanzania focused on R&D, digital communications and creating enterprise and business solutions that have been shaping consumer experiences since 2009.

Speaking to Nigeria CommunicationsWeek over the weekend, Juma said, we have seen an increase in deadlines from regulators in many African countries on SIM cards registration, MNOs have a great opportunity here to lead the unique identity space and the potential to up their games to meet the demands.

AIM Groups EKYC solution is credited for its data visualization this invaluable data which can be used to build and market other products and services that will add value.

Here is the brief interview with Juma,

How EKYC Emerged
“EKYC emerged just under three years ago as a result of the need to maintain an accurate customer/client database, especially by the telecoms operators. We recall what happened in Kenya when the telecoms regulator wanted to have the numbers of registered users, but the operators lacked such data base. Such irregularity sparked a ripple effect across the Continent.
So, what we saw in Tanzania was our regulator also going after the operators, requesting for quality KYC of SIM card users. The manual registration is usually filled with irregularities.
So, we approached the operator and sought for us to develop an app; piece of technology to enable them to carry out a seamless KYC (Know Your Customer) registrations. So, they asked to make a presentation to the regulator first.
So in October 2013, the Tanzanian Communication Regulatory Authority (TCRA) the telecom regulator issued us a letter of no objection to that effect. Since then, we have been providing technology to Tigo, Airtel and Vodacom in Tanzania.

The Peculiarities of EKYC
“Therefore, with EKYC, the app allows you to register users seamlessly. We are on the ground and understand the issues concerning the consumers and the operators, and have been using this technology to tackle them head-on; such as agent behavior, rural connectivity, power issues, facial and ID recognition and now biometrics.
“Our technology is deployed at over 20,000 agents, making sure they capture the users in accurate and specified manner. It is a powerful tool that the mobile operators now rely on to carry out that function, effectively; and in real time, we can determine the demographic, geographic and other information about the SIM card user. We have over a million registrations on the platform each month at the moment
As we have established the feat with the telcos, we are now moving to the banking sector. The pilot scheme involves three banks. We are providing these services with the banks to drive financial inclusion, either in Agent Banking or in the real branch locations.

Key Reasons to Enforce SIM Card Registration
“What happened with MTN Nigeria is a reflection of what happens, almost all over the Continent, particularly during the SIM cards registration where it was discovered that the pictorial representations of the users were done with faces of goats, cats, dogs, or other animals. We must admit that not all the countries have the data, but when you want to capture these data, there are guidelines that must be in place.

“We cannot run away from the issue of having adequate infrastructure. What we do is: where there is no existing data, we send text based information to temporarily activate the customer, there after when the agent is in a place with connectivity the images are sent to do full registration Essentially, we do not encourage disconnecting the people.
Secondly, we engage on cross-checking the captured data. That is when the user will be encouraged to provide additional information if anything is missing or the risk level seems to be high for that particular individual.

Tackling Defective SIM Card Registration
There are occasion we recommend the customer to be sampled. We have the capacity to integrate the data we captured to the national ID scheme. It makes a lot of sense and for easy identification of the citizens.
So, we validate the national ID against the database, which makes biometric registration a possibility.
Thus, the process helps the customer create a digital ID. Assuming we have the opportunity to execute the program with the telcos and the Nigerian government, the digital ID is enough to help deliver services to targeted citizens, be it insurance, vehicle license, financial services etc., provided the customer is on mobile. So, this is a powerful tool for the operators.
In terms of volume, we have over 20,000 agents on ground, delivering over a million transactions monthly. The technology can be customeized to fit into whatever goal a telco or banks wants to achieve, at a very affordable rate. It has the capacity to move from one million registrations to over twenty million without a huge CAPEX.

Unsolicited SMS & Targeted Marketing
“The issue of unsolicited SMS should not be dumped on the door-steps of the telcos alone, because a lot of companies are leveraging the services to market their services to targeted customers. And telcos are in business; they wouldn’t say no to a business that needs their services. We should not forget the activities of fraudsters or unethical hackers who ride on the network to perpetuate some cybercrimes.
“However, the telcos have a duty to prevent frivolous SMS. How can they achieve that? At the point of registering a customer, you can make provision for them to opt in for mobile marketing, alluding to receiving messages about your products/services, be it beer, food items, vehicles, hotels etc this communication can be sent by SMS, MMS, IVR, ring-back tunes, etc For instance, a certain message that appeals to a 60-year old, might be annoying to a 25-year old. That is why, through proper opt in, segmentation and our data analysis, you can make predictions about your customers.

“Proper SIM card registration provides you with such opportunity to know your customers well; that is why the regulator would always insist on getting it right. Some customer might prefer calling them to SMS. So engage with them in the manner they choose and not pushing communication or marketing messages blindly.

“A well filtered bulk SMS will also help you dispatch messages at the right time. Some people would prefer late night SMS, others early in the morning, while others would say, send it during lunch time. Our technology will help you get it right. You can tie some benefits to your message: if you accept my SMS, I will give you one minute free airtime. So, you can monetize what you are doing with mobile customers. The packages have to be compliant and communicated directly to the consumers. If given opportunity in the Nigerian market for instance, we can help the telcos address come of these problems.

Financial Inclusion
“I will address that in multiple parts. There is need to understand the critical role mobile money plays in financial inclusion. We are the first company to develop mobile money application in Tanzania in conjunction with the Central Bank, here in Tanzania. We understand the ecosystem very well. It is also fundamental to conduct research on how deepen financial inclusion. Tanzania and Nigeria have different templates in terms of the regulators’ approach to mobile money and financial services. First, the mobile operators are channels. They are the pipes to deliver the services.
Secondly, the mobile operators through the SIM card registrations know or should know the customer. They can offer the opportunities for the financial institutions to offer services to these customers.
“Thirdly, the mobile operators know about the consumer’s financial spending to an extent. They can tell how much the consumer uses in data, voice, SMS and/or receive including other telecoms related transactions. They have these fact sheets about the customers spending.
“Fourthly, they are in charge of the networks and thus have the last mile connections with the customers. Now, it behoves on the regulator to allow the telcos have closer ties with the financial institutions. Through the corporation, the financial institutions will tap into the resources of the telcos, and pay them for the services they will render on their behalves.
“At that point, the customer will have options to either walk up to the financial institution or leverage the mobile platform. I think that could be massive opportunity in Nigeria. In other words, the telcos are the enablers of financial inclusion, because they have a robust channel.