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The entry into force of the law abolishing “mobile slavery” worries not only subscribers. Due to possible interruptions in communication, bankers sounded the alarm: there is a threat that their clients who changed operators will not receive SMS messages about completed transactions.

On December 1, a law comes into force allowing any citizen to change their mobile operator while maintaining their ten-digit phone number. Banks are afraid that their clients who change their mobile operator will no longer receive SMS notifications for completed transactions. According to a Romir survey, 50% of mobile subscribers are ready to switch to service from a competitor (see RBC daily from 08.29.13).

“First of all, we are concerned about the degree of technical readiness of cellular operators to provide a new service,” says Alfa Bank senior vice president Andrey Zorin. “Operators will be able to send and receive subscribers, keeping their previous phone number, but communication services themselves, including the delivery of SMS messages, will most likely not work after changing the operator.”

Mr. Zorin is concerned about this issue because Alfa Bank actively uses SMS in many businesses and products, in particular “A-Check”, “A-Click”, Internet commerce with 3DS passwords, payment for phones via SMS, etc. “If the SMS message is not delivered to the client for one reason or another, then they will not be able to use various banking products and receive timely notifications about their transactions. This may negatively affect their attitude towards the bank,” notes Andrey Zorin.

His concerns are shared by other bankers. “We are concerned that mobile operators are not fully prepared for the abolition of “mobile slavery” and, we are afraid, they will not have time to prepare by December 1,” agrees Valery Torkhov, Chairman of the Board of Avangard Bank. “There is a possibility that operators will not be ready to redirect not only the call, but also the SMS message, and then the SMS will be lost.”

The top 30 bank RBC Daily said that the number of SMS messages can range from 100 thousand to 500 thousand per month. These are notifications about payroll, card write-offs, online transactions, etc. Their absence will negatively affect not only the attitude of clients towards the bank, but also the business, since the provision of some banking products is ensured by mobile communications. A month ago, representatives of the Big Three said that the mobile number porting service would not work from December 1 due to the unpreparedness of the regulatory framework of the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications and the lack of a database of transferred numbers.

Unofficially, mobile operators acknowledge bankers' concerns. A source from RBC daily, close to one of the Big Three companies, says that at first not only SMS notifications may not reach their recipients, but there may also be errors with the transfer of money to personal accounts with operators.

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Officially, mobile operators claim that there will be no problems with sending SMS. “In our opinion, the banks’ fears are in vain,” says MegaFon press secretary Yulia Dorokhina. “Regardless of which network the subscriber comes to us from, we can guarantee the delivery of text messages from short numbers if the credit institution has a direct agreement with MegaFon or if there is a contractual relationship with an aggregator representing the interests of the bank.”

“VimpelCom is preparing its systems to comply with the law,” the company reported. — Delivery of SMS notifications about financial transactions from banks will largely depend on the readiness of the banks themselves and their systems to correctly identify which telecom operator’s network serves the number to which the SMS needs to be sent. To do this, banks must independently establish interaction with the database of transferred subscriber numbers.” A request to the MTS press service remained unanswered.

None of the Big Three companies could clearly answer the question of whether they are technologically ready to ensure the delivery of SMS notifications.

General Director of SmartCardLink (mobile content aggregator) Alexey Shamaiko says that the issue of technological implementation of SMS information is within the competence of cellular operators. “In our opinion, they will cope with this task, otherwise the very meaning of providing mobile communication services, an integral part of which is the SMS messaging service, is lost,” Alexey Shamaiko is sure.

The subscriber is financially unavailable