Robust authentication, a must for railway transformation

By Jaikishan Rajaraman

India’s travel industry is evolving. Over the past two years, rail minister Suresh Prabhu has announced new plans that will revitalize the country’s railway network, including increased investment of nearly 285 per cent. One development that is already underway is the introduction of mobile ticketing on all trains.

Not only are mobile tickets faster to buy and more convenient to carry than traditional paper tickets, but they are also widely used, given India’s love affair with mobile technology. India has one of the fastest growing populations of mobile phone users in the world – 690 million by 2020, according to the GSMA. With this army of digital consumers, smartphones will become a key enabler of India’s railway revolution.

Mobile enables transformation

Another pillar of the digital transformation of our railways is growing internet penetration. The government aims to increase the number of stations with high-speed Wi-Fi services to 400 by 2018, allowing more passengers to stay connected as they travel. More than 1.5 million people already log on to Google’s free station Wi-Fi on their mobile phones – and that’s only available in 19 cities. As more high-speed services are rolled out, there is a huge opportunity for railway operators to improve customer service. Using social media or apps, operators can provide real-time travel updates to passengers, informing them of any delays or confirming platform information based on their mobile ticket. Passengers benefit from convenient, personalized updates, fostering greater loyalty.

Increased access to high-speed Wi-Fi also provides lucrative opportunities for retail businesses within train stations. Mobile is the perfect channel for retailers to provide personalized offers that can help drive footfall to their stores. Using geo-location tracking, retailers can send push notifications to a shopper’s phone when they physically pass an in-store beacon. These notifications can interrupt traditional social media feeds and share targeted offers and content-based on the shopper’s location in the train station. With so many passengers travelling through India’s stations, phone in hand, retailers can more effectively market to these commuters.

Importance of authentication

However, for the travel industry to successfully transform, it’s essential that these new services are supported by robust authentication. Despite growing adoption of digital services, many Indian consumers have concerns about the security of the data they share with service providers. A recent study by Telenor India revealed that more than half of all Indian consumers know a friend or family member who has been a victim of online fraud. Maintaining customer confidence in digital services is a growing challenge for any business.

The solution lies in our pockets. Multi-factor authentication is the best way to protect customer data and using our mobile phones to do so ensures a smooth service for everyone. With the prevalence of mobile phones, using the same device to authenticate your identity while interacting with service providers is an incredibly simple way to lower friction and increase security. It also removes the need for consumers to remember an ever-growing number of online username and password combinations.

The GSMA is already working with India’s leading mobile network operators to roll out Mobile Connect, an operator-based authentication service that provides a convenient and secure login solution. Mobile Connect protects consumer privacy by using personal data held by the mobile operators, plus proven SIM security, to authenticate a transaction such as booking train tickets. Mobile Connect also offers significant benefits over other authentication methods, such as the CAPTCHA system in use by IRCTC where passengersare required to authenticate twice – once for login, and again for payment.

The journey ahead

The government’s plans to transform India’s railways are ambitious. If rolled out effectively, they have the potential to elevate India’s public transport system to compete with those inJapan and others around the world. Mobile phones are the best tool to support this transformation and offer a range of benefits to passengers and service providers. But passenger privacy must remaina priority. It is only by adopting a mobile authentication service that travel operators can ensure data is really secure and ensure consumer confidence when embracing new digital travel services.

(The author Jaikishan Rajaraman is Head of Technology, APAC, GSMA)