Finance

India’s new SMS regulation creates havoc for banks, essential services

SMS deliveries have been down for days

Published

March 9, 2021

Shivam Vahia

Indian telecom service providers started implementing the second phase of a new SMS regulation, disrupting essential services like OTP (one-time passwords), bank updates, and e-commerce messages. This is an industry-wide issue affecting everything, including India’s identity verification program called Aadhaar and the Coronavirus vaccination portal called CoWIN.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) recently issued a guideline that mandated verifying every SMS and its content before delivery. The process is technically called scrubbing and was implemented on March 8, 2021. As a result, unverified and unregistered SMS messages were blocked by telcos.

TRAI says that scrubbing helps reduce spam or misleading messages that pretend to be from a financial institution. The process helps in differentiating between promotional and transactional messages. To control fraud, a blockchain-based solution is used by telcos to check every SMS’ header and content. If the source isn’t registered, the message won’t go through.

Telcos say that they simply followed the upgrade regulations and that telemarketers and companies are yet to join the formal registration process. Unfortunately, neither the telcos nor the banks have issued a statement to address public outrage.

Every transaction done by a credit or debit card is authenticated on the spot via a preset PIN or SMS OTP in India. For online transactions, a vast majority of users rely on OTPs, and these just aren’t getting delivered. Even SMS updates about a transaction aren’t able to go through. Telcos pushed back and pinned the blame on companies and their lax adoption, which have failed to comply with regulatory standards.

According to BloombergQuint, Axis Bank, one of India’s largest private banks, can deliver only 25 to 30 percent of the total messages. In the meantime, users are suggested to rely on alternative authentication services like Verified by Visa.

Related Topics:Aadhaar Blockchain CoWIN Messages OTP Scrubber SMS SMS regulation Telcos

Apps

Pouch.ph has feature to send money from PH to US banks

Send Globally

Published

June 27, 2023

GadgetMatch

Pouch, a lightning payment app launched in 2021, is introducing its latest feature called Send Globally which will allow users to facilitate money transfers from the Philippines to any bank account in the United States.

Money will be sent in Philippine pesos and will be received in US dollars via the recipient’s bank account.

Both business and individual accounts can use Send Globally to send any amount from US$ 1 to US$ 1,000. In the future, Pouch plans to raise the transaction limit.

To send money via the Pouch app via Send Globally:

Download the Pouch.ph app and sign up
Tap “Send Globally”
Tap “United States”
Enter the recipient’s name and bank account number
Enter the amount (in PhP0
Confirm the exchange rate
Funds get credited to the US bank account

The startup app is also planning on expanding into more markets by collaborating with more international partners for seamless payment services across the world.

Pouch is downloadable via both the App Store and Google Play.

Apps

Going cashless? GCash now accepted in Europe

United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Italy

Published

June 9, 2023

GadgetMatch

Thinking of going cashless on you next trip to Europe? GCash can offer just that, as the mobile wallet app is now accepted in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Italy.

The cross-border payment service is part of the e-wallet’s strengthened partnership with Alipay+, offering users a seamless and secure payment experience without the need for money changers and carrying to much actual cash on your pockets.

Among the popular merchants that will be accepting GCash from now on are: