In a significant move to bolster security and digital identity protection, France’s four leading mobile operators—Bouygues Telecom, Free, Orange, and SFR—have announced a strategic collaboration to develop and launch network-based Application Programming Interfaces (APIs). The initiative, part of the global GSMA Open Gateway program, seeks to help businesses and developers tackle online fraud and improve the verification of mobile customer identities.
The operators will debut two key APIs in the French market: KYC Match and SIM Swap. These APIs, designed in alignment with the new CAMARA standard, are set to become a cornerstone for mobile operators worldwide as they standardize API specifications across networks. Notably, France will be the first country globally where all four major operators will offer the KYC Match API, strengthening online businesses’ ability to verify the identities of new customers. Additionally, the operators are making Number Verification APIs available to developers, further enhancing security capabilities.
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Focus on Fraud Prevention and Customer Verification
The APIs, which have undergone rigorous testing with several French financial institutions, aim to combat rising fraud levels. Notably, institutions such as BforBank, the online arm of Crédit Agricole, and Fortuneo, a subsidiary of Crédit Mutuel Arkéa, have used KYC Match. The API is already helping more than twenty companies across France prevent account takeover fraud and verify customer identities during transaction and onboarding processes.
The French operators are targeting a commercial rollout of the APIs in the first half of 2025. Plans for the launch will be discussed today with the GSMA at the Apidays Paris 2024 developer conference and MWC Barcelona in March 2025.
Henry Calvert, Head of Networks at GSMA, stated, “GSMA Open Gateway has gone from strength to strength since launching last year. This aligned market launch of CAMARA APIs from France’s leading operators will make it easier to keep people safe from the growing threat of fraud. The initiative benefits businesses, mobile operators, and their customers, saving developers time, money, and effort while allowing for the quick launch of innovative new services.”
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Advancing 5G Use Cases and Developer Ecosystems
Rui Frazao, Chief Technology Officer at Free Group iliad, highlighted that this collaboration aligns with the company’s commitment to supporting rapid service deployment via a standardized set of APIs, “As a member of the GSMA Open Gateway initiative, Group iliad is committed to helping developers and cloud providers enhance and deploy services rapidly across a common standard set of APIs available worldwide.
“This unified ecosystem will help unlock the full potential of 5G networks, which is in line with Group iliad’s strategy to democratize access to the latest technologies as soon as they are available. The combination of advanced 5G and APIs opens the mobile networks for new use cases across many industries: fintech, mobility, gaming, entertainment, and others.”
Laetitia Orsini, EVP of Consumer Business at Orange France, emphasized the transformative potential of the Open Gateway initiative, stating, “Orange France is proud to join the GSMA Open Gateway initiative with the other French mobile operators. Orange was one of the earliest supporters of the project at GSMA and Linux Foundation. Our Identity APIs have already been deployed by numerous banks and financial service providers in France to help fight fraud. We are convinced that Open Gateway and CAMARA will allow us to scale our existing business and build new use-cases around network-based APIs.”
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Looking Ahead
The collaboration between France’s leading telecom operators marks a significant step toward building a secure, standardized API ecosystem that benefits developers and customers. As the launch date approaches, the initiative is expected to pave the way for more efficient fraud prevention and identity verification processes while opening the door for innovations across multiple industries.
