lifecell: how Ukrainian companies are getting the most out of data analytics – KyivPost

Over the past decade, the mobile phone has become one of the most important parts of everyone’s daily life and, therefore, the main source of transmission and collection of information. “Data is a new oil” – is a common phrase to describe the modern paradigm of business development. However, a huge amount of data generated by mobile operator subscribers is of little value without the proper use of analytical techniques. For several years, the Ukrainian mobile operator lifecell has been accelerating the valuation of data for the improvement of its activity and the digital transformation of other companies. Big Data solutions from lifecell provide companies with the right information at the right time and help improve their customer experience, the efficiency of their operations and their fraud prevention system. The most demanded products of the operator in Ukraine are credit scoring and marketing and many fraud prevention services.

Let the numbers speak for themselves

The number of companies using big data-based products has increased dramatically in recent times. In August 2021, the total number of lifecell customers using Big Data services increased by 82% (vs August 2020). Lifecell data analysis solutions are the most popular among financial companies. The number of these customers has increased by 220% since last year. They generate more than 50% of the total income of living cells from data analysis.

Turn data into value

lifecell has extensive expertise in creating credit scoring and marketing models for businesses.

A mobile operator’s credit rating is a tremendous tool for banks and credit agencies in assessing creditworthiness and making informed credit decisions. Parameters analyzed by lifecell credit scoring models:

Age of a mobile phone number – helps predict a potential borrower’s availability for contact and detects a fraudster. the lifecell system checks how long the phone number is used. It also spots activated SIM cards immediately before the loan application – then there is a high probability that the borrower will not stay in touch in the future.

Use of telecommunications services – assesses the stability of use of services by identifying the frequency of consumption of telecommunications services. In particular, lifecell checks the following criteria: variations in the usage pattern (eg this month a subscriber used mobile services – next month he did not); most used types of services (for example, only incoming calls or only outgoing calls or SMS, frequency of Internet use, etc.).

Payment model – identifies the reliability of potential borrowers by analyzing the regularity of payments for mobile operators’ service plans. lifecell system checks the mobile number for late payment and consuming expensive services etc.

Social circle – helps to understand if there are connections with “preferred” or “unwanted” borrowers.

Motion Analysis – helps predict type of occupation by identifying the home-work-home pattern or working in a taxi or courier service as well as being imprisoned.

Other features – define the model and cost of a subscriber’s mobile phone; how many times a subscriber changes it; how many unique phone numbers pass through their device.

Marketing scoring helps ensure that every interaction is relevant to a particular customer, enabling businesses to provide personalized customer treatment, prevent unsubscribing, and improve marketing performance. The lifecell marketing scoring models focus on analyzing subscriber revenue and behavioral characteristics: stability of payment for telecommunications services, cost of services used, geolocation (e.g., how often a subscriber roams, type occupancy), mobile device model, intensity of Internet traffic consumption, preferred communication channels (voice calls, types of messaging), etc.

the life cell scoring models use the API. The customer sends the operator a mobile number, then the lifecell system automatically returns a rating rate. It should be noted that there are no universal solutions: each customer has their own set of parameters for scoring and different algorithms for classifying these parameters. An effective rating model will even differ for each bank, let alone companies in various industries.

Fighting digital fraud

According to the Ukrainian Association of Interbank Payment Systems “EMA”, the average amount of losses per unauthorized transaction after SIM card hijacking amounted to 12,500 UAH in 2020. Most often, cybercriminals manage to carry out multiple operations of this type. In such a case, the amount of the loss exceeds hundreds of thousands of hryvnias. And these are just direct financial losses, but let’s not forget the reputational consequences. These figures are convincing more and more Ukrainian companies to use fraud prevention services.

The portfolio of fraud prevention services that lifecell provides to its customers is quite extensive:

Age of a mobile phone number – is very actively used by banks and financial organizations both as part of credit scoring and as a separate anti-fraud service (see description above).

SIM-Counter – check the number of SIM cards per mobile phone. The more numbers activated with the same mobile device, the greater the risk of fraud. Scammers use “disposable” mobile numbers to receive loans and other financial services.

IMSI Сheck – detects the replacement of the SIM card by checking its unique IMSI number (International Mobile Subscriber Identity). If a SIM card has been replaced, there is a high probability that a SIM card hijacking has been carried out (i.e. the SIM card has been reissued under a crook’s name). This is a typical ploy among crooks who intend to access another person’s bank accounts or apply for a loan on behalf of someone else. SIM card hijacking is widespread in Ukraine as the majority of mobile operator subscribers remain anonymous (see details of the system at www.lifecell.ua).

Call forwarding verification – checks the call forwarding number as a fraudster can activate it on their victim’s device so that all incoming calls are forwarded to the fraudster’s phone number. Then the victim doesn’t know when the bank is calling or texting with a one-time code to confirm a transaction, and the bank doesn’t know they are contacting a fraudster. After the fraudster confirms the bank transaction, the money goes. This lifecell service helps to avoid such situations.

Protection of personal information

In providing data analysis services, lifecell strictly obeys Ukrainian law, ie Ukrainian laws “on protection of personal information” and “on information”. The company only provides aggregated and non-personified data and only performs any scoring by mobile number after prior agreement from a subscriber.