Insights

CFCA Spring Educational 2026: Strengthening Trust Across the Communications Ecosystem

Mar 27, 2026

From March 10 to 12, fraud and risk leaders gathered in Charlotte, North Carolina for the CFCA Spring Educational Event. Hosted by Bank of America, the event brought together telecom providers, financial institutions and technology partners focused on staying ahead of evolving fraud threats.

For Somos, one theme stood out. As fraud becomes more coordinated and cross-channel, trust in communications depends on knowing who has the right to use a phone number in the first place.

Collaboration Is No Longer Optional

A consistent theme throughout the event was the need for deeper collaboration across industries. Fraud does not operate in silos and neither can the response.

Discussions highlighted how attacks now move across channels, from voice to messaging to digital platforms, often targeting financial institutions through telecom networks. As these ecosystems converge, gaps in visibility create opportunities for fraudsters.

The takeaway was clear. Stronger partnerships and shared frameworks are essential to establish a common source of truth around phone number assignments and usage. This is where approaches like phone number Right-to-Use (RTU) become critical, enabling the ecosystem to align on trusted data and reduce fragmentation that fraudsters exploit.

The Growing Importance of Trusted Identity

As impersonation and spoofing continue to scale, verifying who has the right to use a phone number is more critical than ever.

At CFCA, Somos joined industry leaders to discuss how phone number RTU can serve as a foundational layer of trust. A key focus was the need to move beyond one-time verification and toward continuous monitoring, ensuring that number assignments and authorization remain accurate over time.

This approach helps solve for some of the industry’s biggest challenges today, including spoofing, unauthorized porting and outdated identity data. By leveraging authoritative data, standards-based frameworks and a chain of trust, RTU enables organizations to validate identity in real time without adding friction.

As RTU adoption grows, it has the potential to move beyond fraud prevention and become an enablement layer for trusted communications, supporting secure engagement across voice and messaging channels.

Moving Forward Together

CFCA Spring Educational 2026 made one thing clear. The fight against fraud will depend on how well the industry works together.

By combining collaboration, trusted data and identity-based solutions, the ecosystem can move closer to a future where consumers can engage with confidence.

At Somos, we are proud to support that mission and to help build a more trusted communications experience for everyone. To learn more, connect with us at connect@somos.com!