Prepaid mobile phone
In 2020, 155 countries had the mandatory SIM registration laws for the prepaid mobile SIM cards such as the mandatory Know Your Customer (KYC) or other type of legal identification verification at the point of sale to prevent the anonymous use of unregistered prepaid mobile which facilitates criminal or terrorist activities.
To maintain revenues, some operators have devised reward schemes designed to encourage frequent top-ups.
To free up resources on the network for new customers, an operator will periodically delete prepaid SIM cards which have not been used for some time, at which point, their service (and its associated phone number) is discontinued.
Before this date, all mobile phone services were offered on a post-paid basis, which excluded people with poor credit.
Prepaid mobile service was invented by Subscriber Computing, Inc., an Orange County company, (1986–1998), founded and directed by Arlene Harris.
In 1996 MTN became the first mobile operator to introduce a prepaid cellular service in Africa, popularizing "pay as you go" in emerging markets.
[7] The first Prepaid card was called "Mimo" and was launched by TMN, the mobile phone operator of Portugal Telecom, in September 1995.
[8] In 2006 Swisscom celebrated ten years with its product and service "NATEL® easy" which also holds a patent on "Prepaid mobile subscriber identification card and method implemented thereby".
They often have fewer contractual obligations – no early termination fee, freedom to change providers, plans, able to be used by those unable to take out a contract (i.e. under age of majority).
These limitations are usually[citation needed] the results of deficiencies in the prepaid systems used by the wireless carriers, as technology has evolved to the point where these are easily managed by triggers or APIs to third-party solution providers.
[2] A Los Angeles technology company developed a mobile application of the same name that replicates this functionality for a smartphone.
United States Senators Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and John Cornyn (R-TX) introduced legislation requiring consumers to produce identification before buying pre-paid phones in 2010,[11][12][13] which was not passed.
As of January 2020, research found that governments of 155 countries have been mandating SIM registration laws such a mandatory Know Your Customer (KYC) or other type of legal identification verification at the point of sale; in some countries, prepaid users must submit biometrics like photos and fingerprints.
[14] There is a concern by police and security agencies that anonymous use of prepaid mobile services facilitates criminal or terrorist activities.
In fact, a publicly available policy assessment report from Mexico showed that mandatory SIM registration introduced there in 2009 had failed to help the prevention, investigation and/or prosecution of associated crimes.
