and boosts revenues…
As a mobile network operator (MNO) or payment aggregator, your reputation and revenue growth are closely linked to the quality and security of mobile Value-Added Services (mVAS) and the billing flows leveraging your network. While direct carrier billing (DCB) and other mobile payment methods offer a seamless experience for consumers, they also come with challenges – from transaction disputes to regulatory scrutiny. One of the most effective ways to protect your business while improving customer trust and driving revenue is robust consent management.
A consent management system provides a clear audit trail of every transaction, capturing what a customer saw before approving a payment, how they interacted with the payment pages, and what confirmation they received after the transaction. This level of transparency reduces refunds (sometimes referred to as chargebacks), ensures compliance, and motivates the value chain – including advertisers and content service providers (CSPs) – to maintain higher standards.
The Cost of Poor Consent Management
Without a strong consent management process, Operators may find themselves handling high volumes of customer complaints, refunding disputed payments, and spending valuable resources investigating transaction issues.
Customers dispute transactions for a variety of reasons, and not all disputes stem from fraudulent activity or misleading practices. In many cases, customers forget that they made the transaction until they notice a charge on their mobile bill or realise their prepaid balance has been depleted. Others may not recognise the service name on their statement, leading them to assume they have been incorrectly charged. Another common scenario involves shared device usage, where a family member – often a child – has made the purchase.
While consent management may not be able to confirm who was using the device at the time, it provides a clear audit trail showing that the transaction occurred on that specific device, at a specific time, from a specific IP address, making it easier to validate legitimate payments.
However, not all disputes are because of customer error. In some cases, the issue lies with the way the service was presented at the point of purchase. If a payment flow is unclear, lacks key information, or creates confusion about whether a charge will apply, customers are far more likely to dispute the transaction. This is where consent management becomes invaluable – not only in verifying valid payments but also in identifying patterns of non-compliance that may be driving higher refund rates.
For example, in the UAE, one of the most common issues our compliance team find is problems with service landing pages. Consumers may not realise they are about to be charged, or key details – such as terms and conditions – might be missing. Without proper consent tracking, it becomes difficult to determine whether a customer query or refund request is valid, and MNOs, or their payment partners, often bear the financial burden of investigating and resolving disputes.
Regardless of the reason for a dispute, the ability to access a tamperproof record of customer consent helps MNOs determine whether a complaint or refund request is justified and ensures that consumers have visibility into their transactions.
How Consent Management Delivers Clear Business Benefits for Network Operators
1. Reducing Refunds and Disputes
Refund requests and transaction disputes can quickly eat into revenue and increase customer care costs. A robust consent management system records the entire customer journey – including screenshots and video evidence – showing exactly what the customer saw and agreed to before completing the transaction.
With this evidence, you can:
- Defend against fraudulent refund claims.
- Resolve issues associated with consumers forgetting they made a purchase, not recognising a service name on a bill, or issues with shared devices.
- Prove that customers received clear pricing and terms.
- Reduce the number of disputes that result in lost revenue.
2. Strengthening Regulatory Compliance
Many markets require MNOs to maintain proof of informed consent for financial transactions, especially for recurring payments and premium services. 3rd party consent management platforms ensure you meet these requirements by:
- Providing a timestamped record of consent for each transaction.
- Ensuring all services present clear and compliant pricing, terms, opt-in processes, as well as how to unsubscribe or cancel a service.
- Reducing the risk of regulatory fines and reputational damage.
Globally, regulators are paying closer attention to customer care and billing transparency. With the right processes in place, you can stay ahead of compliance requirements rather than reacting to enforcement actions.
3. Enhancing Customer Trust and Loyalty
A robust consent management system does more than just provide an audit trail for transactions – it actively disincentivises misleading or non-transparent practices across the value chain.
When every stage of the customer journey is logged, time-stamped, and stored in a tamperproof platform, the value chain is far less likely to engage in non-compliant activities.
- Advertisers cannot retroactively ‘fix’ misleading practices to avoid accountability.
- MNOs have irrefutable proof when taking action against bad actors.
- It provides an easy way to validate transactions if a dispute arises.
- Customers benefit from a cleaner, more transparent ecosystem, leading to greater confidence in mobile payments.
Operators can send a clear message: only fair, transparent, and customer-friendly services will thrive. This not only reduces complaints and refunds but also promotes a healthier, more sustainable mobile payments industry where consumers trust the services available to them.
4. Cutting Operational Costs
Handling disputes is resource-intensive, requiring time from customer service teams, internal investigators, and compliance staff. Consent management helps you streamline operations by:
- Automating transaction verification, reducing the need for manual intervention.
- Lowering customer support costs by preventing disputes before they arise.
- Enabling quicker resolution of refund requests, reducing workload and improving efficiency.
5. Holding Partners Accountable
When fraudulent or misleading practices occur, they damage your reputation as a network operator or payment aggregator. Consent management gives you the tools to:
- Identify non-compliant merchants based on high refund rates and disputes.
- Demand higher standards from partners to protect your brand and customers.
- Ensure all parties comply with regulatory requirements, reducing your risk.
In regions where service quality varies, this can be particularly important. By setting clear expectations, you motivate the entire value chain to clean up its act, ensuring a better experience for consumers.
6. Using Data to Improve the Customer Journey
A consent management system doesn’t just help resolve disputes – it also provides valuable insights into the customer journey. By analysing where consumers drop off or raise queries, you can:
- Identify points of friction in the payment process.
- Optimise billing flows to increase conversion rates.
- Improve transparency and communication, making payments more intuitive for users.
Over time, these insights lead to higher transaction success rates and better overall revenue performance.
The Bottom Line: Why Network Operators Should Act Now
With mobile payments continuing to grow, MNOs face a choice: allow refund rates, customer service costs, and regulatory risks to increase, or take control with consent management.
By implementing a robust system, you can:
- Reduce refunds and disputes, keeping more revenue in your business.
- Protect against regulatory fines, ensuring long-term compliance.
- Strengthen customer trust, encouraging greater adoption of mobile payments.
- Improve relationships with the value chain, ensuring all players operate to high standards.
- Optimise payment flows, increasing successful transactions and revenue.
Now is the time to set higher standards for mobile payments, ensuring that your customers and partners all benefit from a transparent, well-managed ecosystem.
If you have any questions about consent management, get in touch with our team. We have extensive experience implementing and optimising solutions to help you reduce complaints and refunds.
