Mobile phone geolocation provides the physical location of a customer's mobile phone, so it can be compared against whatever location information the consumer provided on the order.
Where it's used
- Authenticating new accounts and verifying consumer identity
- Ongoing authentication during a transaction, not just at signup
- Reducing both first-party and third-party fraud
- Creating real two-factor authentication when combined with device identification
What it can catch
- Fraudulent use of otherwise-legitimate profile data
- Proxy use attempting to mask a device's actual location
- "I never made this transaction" disputes
- Mismatches between a device's real location and the shipping address on an order
What to evaluate
Country-by-country coverage, how unknown or prepaid numbers get handled, GSM vs. CDMA network compatibility, consumer opt-in and privacy requirements, how precise the location data actually is (country-level vs. address-level), and whether the vendor's infrastructure is installed directly on wireless carrier networks.
How it works
A company submits a phone number and gets location data back. If required, the consumer gets an SMS asking permission first. The returned location is then compared against the transaction or profile data on file.
Priced per-transaction. Alternatives: phone verification, IP geolocation, telephone number identification, device identification.