The GSMA Mobile Identity programme recently published its latest in-depth case study on KDDI’s au ID service (see Resources page). With more than 15 million individual au IDs since its launch in May 2010, au ID is arguably the single most successful operator-provided identity solution in existence today. KDDI represents a model example to others seeking to leverage growing consumer demand for customised services that enhance both choice and security in today’s increasingly complex digital world.
Members of the GSMA Mobile Identity team had the privilege of spending a week with KDDI’s au ID team in Tokyo to learn and gather insights on how this unique and innovative identity service has become such a large success. Through in-depth interviews with KDDI leadership and customers, as well as a number of Japan’s biggest content and service providers in the gaming, navigation and news industries, the GSMA was able to examine and analyse the strong value proposition that this identity service presents to customers and businesses alike.
The proposition
au ID is a unique customer identity which is used to access all of KDDI’s own services (including multiple subscriptions and networks, such as TV, WIFI, fixed and mobile) as well as those of third party services through a simple “one-click” or seamless login service. Earlier KDDI consumer research had found that customers did not feel safe using smartphones to go online, and often hesitated to use them due to the fear of entering the “open and untrusted internet”. By offering KDDI-vetted content through a secured portal known as “au Smart Pass”, KDDI was able to leverage its reputation as a trusted provider by giving customers the ability to access content safely and easily.
Through the service, au ID users can also make use of online storage, manage third party loyalty schemes, and even pay for goods and services on their mobile, by adding the purchase to their monthly bill, “au Simple Payment”. Through the use of open and interoperable web standards (OpenID and the OAuth protocol for secure authorization), KDDI ensured that the integration process for linking the au customer ID authentication to other third party websites was kept simple, allowing the operator to attract a wide range of web-based service providers to partner with KDDI.
A promising approach
This has proven to be an extremely effective strategy for addressing the perennial chicken-and-egg problem that affects essentially all identity propositions: customers often do not adopt a service until they perceive a meaningful and appealing base of service providers with whom the ID service works, while service providers do not want to deploy until they perceive a large base of active customers. KDDI created a value proposition that very rapidly attracted customer interest and engagement. In essence, au ID has become the “gateway” for customers to access a variety of services and a means for KDDI – as well as its service provider partners – to understand its subscriber activities more comprehensively.
This case study explores some of the key factors that have led to the success of KDDI’s au ID service and provides valuable insights into some of the challenges that KDDI was able to overcome in launching the service and extending the solution to third parties.
“Mobile Operators are very important to us [service providers]. We are very grateful that KDDI is taking such a leading role in this space and providing our customers with an easy way to access and pay for our services.” – SEGA representative, a gaming content provider using au ID.
You find more GSMA Case Studies on our Resources page.