{"id":28689,"date":"2020-02-20T11:42:22","date_gmt":"2020-02-20T11:42:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gsma.com\/futurenetworks\/?p=28689"},"modified":"2026-05-14T14:01:58","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T13:01:58","slug":"is-rcs-set-to-transform-mobile-payments-and-psd2-sca","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gsma.com\/solutions-and-impact\/technologies\/networks\/latest-news\/is-rcs-set-to-transform-mobile-payments-and-psd2-sca\/","title":{"rendered":"Is RCS set to transform Mobile Payments and PSD2 SCA?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mobile telecommunications services, and the devices consumers use to access them, are evolving rapidly \u2013 and, with the roll-out<\/a> of 5G, the integration of IoT and wearables, and the adoption<\/a> of embedded SIM, mobile services will soon be available everywhere.<\/p>\n

Service providers relying on mobile apps, however, face several challenges. These include falling consumer retention figures, as app transaction abandonment rates increase; the cost of developing and maintaining mobile apps; ensuring adequate security for accurate billing and fraud prevention; and meeting regulations such as PSD2.<\/p>\n

Rich Communication Services (RCS<\/a>) \u2013 the mobile industry\u2019s upgrade to SMS, which brings enriched multimedia services and enhanced security to mobile messaging \u2013 provides a range of solutions to these challenges, and with them new commercial opportunities in the delivery of consumer payments.\u00a0 RCS is now gaining momentum in the consumer market, and is a key platform to watch in 2020 and beyond. \u00a0Adoption of RCS is mainly driven by buy-in from mobile platform providers such as Samsung and Google, more than 20 device OEMs, and over 90 mobile network operators to date.<\/p>\n

From the consumer\u2019s perspective, the RCS experience means forgoing the need to download multiple different apps and instead using a native messaging app on their device which is not limited to plain text, but is capable of handling feature-rich communications in the style of WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger or WeChat. The RCS infrastructure consists of an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) core with implementation-specific Application Server (AS) functions. The messaging feature in RCS is enhanced by RCS Business Messaging (RBM) supported by backend platform components.<\/p>\n

Security and trust are scarce in the messaging world, where unwitting consumers can fall victim to phishing attacks leading to monetary loss and compromise of personal information. RCS can help here with Verified Sender, a feature of RBM which provides proof of the sender\u2019s identity. This proof is technically based on a digital signature and, for consumer confidence at a glance, can be shown as a visual tick-mark, with a verified name and logo of the sender on the messaging client.<\/p>\n

Consumer authentication has been commonly based, until recently, on the use of a one-time password (OTP) sent over SMS, in conjunction with a memorable secret. Since the arrival of PSD2, however, strong customer authentication (SCA) is required for all electronic payments. PSD2 SCA requires the use of at least two from the following elements (see Figure 2):<\/p>\n