The New Era of SIM Registration: Why It Matters

SIM registration, the process of associating a mobile number with an identifiable individual, is rapidly evolving from a back-office compliance task 30 years ago to a core part of national security, fraud prevention, and consumer protection strategies.

Governments around the world are tightening regulations amid rising concerns over identity fraud, SIM-swap attacks, anonymous fraud, messaging abuse, and organised crime. And as these rules proliferate, they are reshaping how mobile operators manage customers.

But is the balance to support consumer convenience with easier remote on-boarding and subscriber switching (eSIM’s requiring no physical card) under threat for telecom operators? Regulators around the world are also tightening requirements around subscriber identity checks to combat ID related fraud and to enhance data protection. Equally, it is a huge opportunity to be the centre of a variety of secure digital ecosystems, including mobile money and e-government services.

Facts & Figures

Projections by the GSMA suggest that by 2030, unique mobile subscribers will grow to 6.5 billion , all anchored by a physical SIM or embedded eSIM. The eSIM % will also grow from 10% at present of new connections to over 48% by 2030.

As of February 2025, 72 operator groups had also signed up to the GSMA Open Gateway initiative, accounting for 78.5% of mobile connections globally.

As of early 2026 figures also suggest over 5.2 billion mobile wallet users globally — more than 60% of the world’s population, with over 50% using regularly for bills, daily shopping life, and money transfers.

Where is the landscape changing?

Legislative Drivers: Security, Accountability, and Control

With the importance of a mobile device as the primary wallet and communication device, many countries now require that SIM cards be linked to verified identities — often at the point of sale.

• Philippines: A nationwide SIM Registration Act requires identification before SIM activation, with carrier online portals used for registration under government rules. Unregistered SIMs have been deactivated periodically as enforcement tightens.
• China & Hong Kong: Both have long had real-name schemes that compel disclosure of ID details on SIM purchase.
• Germany: Strict rules mandate no activation without identity verification for prepaid and postpaid SIMs, regardless of purchase channel.

In other regions, SIM legislation is expanding rapidly:

• Russia now links SIMs to device IMEI and requires re-registration when SIMs are swapped to another device — effectively tightening identity and device association.
• South Korea has introduced facial recognition checks in SIM purchase to fight scams and unauthorized registrations.
• Several African nations, from Gambia to Tanzania and Rwanda, enforce mandatory SIM registration with potential deactivation for non-compliance.
• Jordan now has a mandatory requirement to verify SIM purchase biometrically at point of purchase against the national ID database.

Other examples exist most recently in Kenya* and Indonesia**.

These moves reflect a global trend: telecom regulators tying mobile identities more closely to verified, tamper-resistant personal data, often also matching what is held nationally on citizen databases.

So how can we verify large numbers of mobile subscribers with assurance of their real identity?

* The Communications Authority of Kenya is procuring an ID-to-SIM verification system that lets the public check which numbers are registered to their National ID/passport, aimed at reducing identity misuse and SIM fraud.

** Indonesia is rolling out biometric SIM registration in 2026, starting with a hybrid/optional phase from 1 Jan 2026 and moving to mandatory biometric registration for new customers from 1 Jul 2026; officials also cited the scale issue of 310M numbers in circulation vs ~220M adult population; seeing over 380,000 fraudulent accounts and losses of Rp4.8 trillion ($279 million) as of late 2025.

Telecom networks now underpin national digital infrastructures

Mobile numbers are no longer just a tool to communicate; the integrity of a verified SIM card becomes crucial for digital trust. We use it to access and use our mobile wallets, as a tool for account recovery, as a two-factor authentication for banking and other payment processing, and for accessing digital services.

In 2024, mobile technologies and services generated 5.8% of global GDP, a contribution that amounted to $6.5 trillion of economic value added (GSMA The Mobile Economy 2025 report).

For those processes to be secure & resilient to synthetic identities, it is critical that duplicate/fake registrations and weak SIM replacement processes are eliminated, as they compromise security and open the door to fraud. However, traditional paper-based KYC processes alone are becoming no longer sufficient. Documents can be forged, data can be misused and manual checks take time. All whilst telecom operators face a growing set of challenges:

• High-volume of registrations across different settings (shops, agents)
• Demand for activation to be instant (manual checks take time)
• Fraud attempts targeting SIM swapping and account takeovers (how do we ensure data integrity)
• New regulations around data protection and SIM registration process (some countries are further than others)

According to The National Fraud Database, the number of sim-swap frauds in the UK has increased by more than 1,000%, as criminals try to exploit the increasing reliance of businesses using two-factor authentication to protect their customers' data. It says it has seen a 1,055% increase in the number of reports of sim-swap fraud, rising to almost 3,000 cases in 2024 from just 289 in 2023.

The task is not simple data collection. Operators need ways that enable them to accurately verify an identity at speed and at scale. This can be achieved by focusing on three pillars:

1. Iris biometric deduplication

Establishing and verifying a unique, living individual will enable elimination of duplicate / multiple SIM registrations at the point they are being registered and thus reduce identity fraud. Rather than relying on traditional data, liveness is confirmed utilising biometrics.

2. Liveness for anti-spoofing

As biometric registration gains traction in some markets, regulators are highlighting the importance of preventing spoofing attempts using photos, masks, or replay attacks. Effective liveness detection ensures the system verifies a real, present individual and not just a static image.

This is where the choice of a biometric system is important. Iris recognition is regarded as the most accurate method available today as the human iris cannot be faked, forged, lost or stolen. This is even more crucial down the line where digital services and / or financial transactions take place.

3. Verification during a SIM lifecycle

Operators increasingly evaluate appropriate process for SIM replacements or the need to re-verify in risk triggered circumstances, where re-enrolment should be avoided, highlighting the need for a verified onboarding to start with.

Can we achieve scale and assurance without making subscriber sign-up burdensome due to the new operational and regulatory challenges?

It is a balance and a challenge, and no one solution will work in every country. However, innovative solutions are being seen monthly driven by the global backing of the GSMA. They are keen to ensure that specification changes allow robust compliance to Telecom Regulators but at the same time allow open competition and innovation for roaming, attended and un-attended SIM/eSIM registration.Top of Form

The basic mantra for all security systems involving humans is a three-step approach:

1. Something I know
2. Something I have
3. Something I am

It can currently be argued that the telco and payments worlds have provided numerous internal systems for their customers to very comprehensively provide solutions that address the first two. However, a rapid catch-up and race is occurring to address “who I am”. Face and voice have in the past few years been seen as the IDV liveness panacea, particularly for remote checking. The drive for change though is now growing, with AI deepfakes rapidly increasing around image and voice usage.

We therefore currently work with telecom operators, regulators, and specialist Telco system integrators to solve this problem, by integrating trusted iris biometric hardware and software systems into MNO’s existing SIM registration frameworks. The usage of an iris, the most accurate and fundamentally unique biometric humans have (see more here) can dramatically remove duplication, detect multiple ID and fraudulent SIM registrations. It also allows an important one-time anchor for the financial wallet. This is all built around robust liveness detection and is usually directly implemented in MNO shops, franchise outlets and partner locations.

Rules and frequency of validation can all be built in and these can be stand-alone apps or provided as API cores. In short, these security processes deliver everything and more that the Telco ecosystem, governments and regulators are now demanding of the new era of SIM Registration.

What next?

Within an MNO’s reach, there will undoubtably be a diversity of local, regional and global regulatory compliance. We can help, speak to our team who will look at your needs and share relevant practical insights. More on our work in this area can be found here.