Fifty-two state bankers associations expressed strong support for the Federal Communications Commission’s proposals to ensure that all voice service providers in the path of a call take meaningful responsibility for keeping illegal calls off the U.S. calling network, in a letter sent to the FCC today.
The letter adds the state associations’ voice to the growing number of banking and other financial trade associations expressing support for stronger FCC rules to combat illegal calls that impersonate banks and other legitimate businesses.
‘Know your customer’ and ‘know your upstream provider’
In the letter, the associations expressed support for the FCC’s proposal to require originating providers to “know their customer” — i.e., to collect specific information about a prospective customer — before that customer may originate calls on the provider’s network.
The letter also expressed support for the FCC’s proposal to specify the criteria that originating providers must satisfy before providing an “attestation” to a call under the “STIR/SHAKEN” call authentication framework. When an originating provider improperly provides an “A-level” attestation to a call – the highest form of attestation available – it may lead a terminating provider to apply a green “checkmark” or other signal indicating (falsely) the number is not illegally spoofed.
The associations also expressed support for the FCC’s proposal to require downstream providers to take specific steps to know the “upstream” providers from which they accept call traffic, to monitor those providers’ traffic and compliance practices, and to refuse or discontinue service when the evidence shows that an upstream provider is facilitating illegal calls.
“The status quo is unacceptable,” the associations said. “We applaud the Commission for proposing rules that will help stop illegal calls at every stage of the calling ecosystem.”
ABA expressed support
In three prior comments submitted to the FCC, (July 25, July 27, and Aug. 10) the American Bankers Association, joined by other national financial trade associations, expressed its strong support for the FCC proposals. The comments referenced data generated by an ABA consultant that showed illegally spoofed calls remain pervasive, demonstrating the need for voice service providers to take stronger action to keep bad actors off the U.S. calling network.
