When a user initiates login, payment, or account access, the enterprise makes an API call to SAFr Auth using the user’s mobile number. No passwords, SMS OTPs, or app switching needed, just one background call triggered by the user’s existing session.
Passwordless, 2FA-less, fast, reliable and ultra-secure. Upgrade to next-level Mobile Identity Auth.
Go beyond SMS OTP, beyond Passkeys and biometrics and connect simply and easily to the best-in-class authentication API from XConnect. Using the unhackable superpower of the SIM card and real-time Mobile Network Operator data, get the most robust, secure authentication there is, teamed with a zero-intervention UX for your customer. SAFr Auth is a truly awesome authentication and IDV solution.
The Trouble with SMS OTP
Eroded trust, lost users
When SMS OTP fails, users lose confidence. Every delayed or intercepted code chips away at trust in your brand’s security. Once that trust is gone, it’s gone – and users move to providers who offer faster, safer authentication.
Operational pain and wasted spend
SMS OTPs drain efficiency and budgets. Delays frustrate users, drive support costs, and open the door to AIT – bots triggering fake OTPs that you still pay for. Add undelivered messages, roaming issues and spam filtering, and you’re paying for failure, not protection.
Financial and legal fallout
The risks are real: fraud losses, customer compensation, compliance fines, and reputational damage. In today’s regulatory climate, relying on SMS OTP isn’t just outdated – it can be a liability.
It’s time to move on from codes to confidence – with SAFr Auth.
The Solution?
Simply Replace SMS OTP with SAFr Auth
SAFr Auth, developed by XConnect, is a superior authentication method that addresses the fundamental weaknesses of SMS OTP. SAFr Auth is a unique, simple-to-deploy network API which provides a far more secure, reliable, and user-friendly authentication experience without 2FA. Here’s why banks, fintechs and enterprises are using SAFr Auth:
1. Better security for you and your customers
- Unhackable and Unspoofable: The SIM card’s cryptographic capabilities make it a robust and secure method for identifying the owner, ensuring the authentication process is secure against hacking and spoofing.
- Zero User Intervention: SAFr Auth ‘humanises’ the authentication process by totally removing the human. No password to remember. No codes to intercept.
- Phishing and Man-in-the-Middle Attack Mitigation: SAFr uniquely provides additional security signals and protections to prevent sophisticated phishing or intervention attacks.
- Patent-pending Flow - SAFr Auth's unique architecture makes it more secure than any other auth solution.
2. Lower Costs.
- Reduced Operational Costs: SAFr Auth eliminates the need for SMS OTP services and reduces customer support costs related to authentication issues.
- Minimal Implementation Costs: The easy, single API integration reduces the complexity and cost of implementing multiple authentication solutions.
- Lower Fraud Costs: Enhanced security measures significantly decrease the financial impact of fraud by preventing unauthorised access and fraudulent transactions.
- AIT – Take back control of Artificially Inflated Traffic. Only pay for logins for genuine users. Further, use SAFr Auth to establish ‘liveness’ of a number (person) before you carry out any further checks. Win-win.
3. Happy Users: A vastly improved UX.
- Seamless and Passwordless Experience: SAFr Auth provides an entirely seamless authentication process that requires no user action; convenient and secure, and keeps your UX fast & friction-free.
- Zero User Intervention: Users do not need to interact with SMS OTPs or use an authenticator, eliminating the potential for errors and making the process hugely user-friendly.
- Inclusive Security: SAFr Auth maintains consistent security across all devices, SIM or eSIM, any operating system, from cheap basic handsets to the latest iPhone; it's a universal, inclusive user experience, all over the world.
Fast
SAFr Auth completes authentication six times faster than SMS OTP by using cryptographic keys embedded in the SIM or eSIM. There’s no dependency on message delivery or signal quality, and no user action required. Authentication happens instantly in the background, giving both the enterprise and user a seamless, real-time confirmation.
Secure
Unlike SMS OTP, which travels across vulnerable channels, SAFr Auth operates directly within the mobile network, secured by the SIM’s cryptographic capabilities. This ensures end-to-end integrity and resistance to interception, spoofing, or replay attacks. Security is hardware-rooted, not app-based, creating a trusted link between network, device, and identity.
Any OS
SAFr Auth works on every operating system – iOS, Android, Nokia, supermarket burner, or feature phones. There’s no dependency on specific apps, SDKs, or browser plugins. As long as there’s a SIM or eSIM, it authenticates cleanly, giving enterprises a single, universal method of user verification across all devices and operating systems.
Seamless
With SAFr Auth, there’s no waiting, app-switching, or copy-and-paste from texts. The entire process runs silently within the mobile network. Users move through onboarding or checkout in seconds, while businesses reduce abandonment and friction. It’s authentication that happens invisibly – fast, accurate, and built for a generation that expects zero delay.
No user account
SAFr Auth removes the weakest link in authentication – the human. There’s no password to forget, no code to type, and no user error to exploit. Verification happens passively, triggered by the network itself, turning the SIM into a secure, hardware-based identity layer that’s always available and always trusted.
Best UX
User experience matters. Unlike biometrics, which can fail or frustrate, and is still linked to an account, SAFr Auth works invisibly – no scans, prompts, or approvals. It provides one-touch simplicity without compromise, instantly verifying users while staying immune to spoofing or manipulation. The result is the smoothest, most reliable authentication journey available today.
Gen AI-proof
SMS and biometrics are already being exploited by generative AI. SAFr Auth isn’t. Because it’s tied to the SIM and network, not the user’s device or behaviour, it can’t be mimicked by bots or AI voice clones. It’s a future-ready layer of trust that authenticates the real person behind the number.
Inclusive
SAFr Auth works globally, on any phone with a SIM or eSIM – no data plan, app, or smartphone required. That makes it ideal for markets with mixed device ecosystems. It bridges the digital divide by giving everyone the same fast, secure, and frictionless authentication experience, regardless of handset or OS.
Trusted
The SIM has remained unhackable and unspoofable since 1991, forming the most proven hardware security layer in existence. SAFr Auth leverages that trust, verifying identity through network-level checks rather than software assumptions. It’s authentication built on decades of mobile security evolution – strong, invisible, and universally deployed.
Phishing-proof
Phishing relies on tricking users into revealing or entering codes. SAFr Auth eliminates this entirely. No messages are sent, no input is required, and no credentials exist to steal. Authentication occurs inside the network itself, invisible to attackers and immune to phishing, smishing, or social-engineering tactics.
No device-binding
Traditional authentication binds users to a specific device or app. SAFr Auth doesn’t. It works natively with the SIM or eSIM, so users can switch phones, upgrade devices, or change apps without breaking their authentication chain. Enterprises gain flexibility, scalability, and lower support overhead with true SIM-based portability.
One API call
SAFr Auth can deliver multiple authentication and security signals through a single API call. That means faster integration, fewer dependencies, and a simpler architecture for developers. With one connection, enterprises can verify identity, detect fraud, and enable secure access – instantly, reliably, and without complex orchestration.
Orchestrated Auth
SAFr Auth’s intelligent flow manages authentication dynamically, with built-in fallbacks that ensure 100% completion. If one signal fails, another takes over automatically. It’s authentication that never stalls or times out – continuously aware, adaptive, and resilient – built for banks, fintechs, and enterprises that can’t afford downtime or drop-offs.
How SAFr Auth Works.
Step 1: Auth request
2. Secure operator routing
SAFr Auth identifies the user’s mobile network operator in real time and establishes a secure, encrypted channel between the enterprise and the operator, within the operator's domain. No data is exposed, no personally identifiable information (PII) is exchanged.
3. Verification via HTTP
Within that secure channel, the operator validates the SIM and device identity by reading specific HTTP headers generated by the mobile network, confirming the request originates from a genuine, active SIM on the network. Invisible and impossible to spoof.
4. Instant decision
The operator’s result is returned to SAFr Auth, which immediately responds to the enterprise with an authenticated/rejected. The user remains in flow, completing the process seamlessly and quickly while authentication occurs silently in the background.
Get Started with Next-Level Auth Now
Although still the most common method, the limitations and vulnerabilities of SMS OTP now make it an outdated solution for modern auth needs. As cyberthreats increase and the use of generative AI evolves, so too must the methods we use to protect our identities.
SAFr Auth is a simple replacement for SMS OTP. A robust, secure, and user-friendly alternative that addresses the weaknesses of SMS OTP, providing next-level auth for businesses and users alike.
Regulators worldwide increasingly advocate a principles-based approach to authentication – moving beyond SMS OTP towards stronger, context-aware methods such as SAFr Auth.
It's much easier and simpler than you think to authenticate with SAFr Auth and ensure your business stays ahead of the competition.
Take the first step towards a better, safer, more secure, future-proof authentication solution.
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