The issue of fraud and identity theft is still very prevalent in Malaysia, and requires cooperation from various parties to curb it. Recently, local telecommunications companies have introduced the Number Verification API platform which provides access to banks and companies to make it easier for them to verify the identity of the owner of the phone number registered to their companies.
With the Number Verification API, it will allow banks and online shopping platforms to verify the identity of individuals registered on these platforms, and this will to some extent help these parties to ensure that the identity of users on their platforms is genuine.
This API was introduced in collaboration with major Malaysian telecommunications companies, including CelcomDigi, Maxis, U Mobile, Telekom Malaysia and Yes 5G, to enable local companies that allow registration via phone to verify the identity of their users more accurately.
This API was launched during the recent ASEAN Summit of Nations in Kuala Lumpur and is part of the GSMA Open Gateway program which allows companies to build services and applications that allow companies to access some of the user's data when a phone number is used to register for a banking account or their digital trading platform.