SIM change and eSIM transfer

How do we take a SIM change or eSIM transfer from any door, authenticate the customer before the change, notify the account holder, and write the new SIM to the BSS?

Authenticate first, change second, notify always. Callvu takes the SIM change or eSIM transfer request from the app, the store, the contact center or an AI assistant, classifies it (a replacement SIM, a physical to eSIM move, a device-to-device eSIM transfer, a change on a line with a recent port-out PIN reset or password change), runs the secure authentication the FCC rules require before any change (a one-time passcode to the existing device, the account PIN, or a store identity check, never a knowledge question alone), chases a failed authentication through the step-up path, routes a flagged line (a recent takeover report, a lock on the account, a pattern of changes) to the fraud desk in the Decision Desk, writes the new SIM or eSIM profile to the BSS, the system of record, and sends the account holder the immediate notification with a way to stop the change. Live at AT&T.

Live at AT&TComplex: multi-party handoffsCallvu moves: chase and verify, classify, decide, write back

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Last updated November 7, 2026.

The problem today

The SIM swap was done in forty seconds by an agent who accepted the last four digits of a social security number, and the bank account was emptied an hour later.

Today, without Callvu

A SIM swap is the first step of most account takeovers: whoever controls the SIM receives the one-time codes for the victim's bank, email and crypto accounts. Fraudsters socially engineer store staff and agents, or buy the answers to knowledge questions, and the carrier's own process does the rest. The victim learns of it when the phone goes dead.

The FCC's SIM swap and port-out rules now require secure authentication before a SIM change, immediate notification to the customer of any SIM change request, an option to lock the account against SIM changes, records of the requests and the authentications, and employee training; the CPNI rules already required authentication before account access. Every element is a step the process must enforce in every channel, including the store and the AI assistant.

A SIM change that cannot happen without the authentication is the only kind the rules allow.

How it runs

From the requestto the system of record.

A customer asks to replace a SIM, move to an eSIM, or transfer an eSIM to a new device, in the app, on the website, in a store, in the contact center or through an AI assistant. Callvu opens the request on the line.

Customer (the account holder or an authorized user with SIM rights): Authenticates on a secure screen, confirms the change, and receives the notification.
Store or contact center agent: Starts the request and sees the authentication result, never the credentials.
Fraud desk: Decides flagged requests in the Decision Desk.
Callvu: Classifies, authenticates, chases step-up, routes, writes to the BSS and notifies.

Classify the request
The request is classified by type (a replacement for a lost or damaged SIM, a physical SIM to eSIM move, an eSIM transfer between devices, a carrier-initiated change) and by risk (a line with a recent password or PIN reset, a recent port-out PIN request, a new authorized user, an account lock set by the customer, a pattern of SIM changes, a device not previously seen); the classification sets the authentication method and whether the fraud desk must decide.
Chase and verify the authentication
The customer authenticates with a method the rules accept: a one-time passcode to the existing SIM or the app on the existing device, the account PIN entered on a secure screen (not read to the agent), a push approval in the app, or in a store a government identity document checked against the account; a failed or unavailable method steps up to the next (a second factor, a callback to the number on file, an in-store check) and never falls back to a knowledge question alone; the requester's role is checked (the account holder, or an authorized user with SIM change rights).
Decide
A request that passes authentication on an unflagged line proceeds by rule; a flagged line (an account lock, a recent takeover report, a change pattern, a mismatch between the requester and the device) goes to the fraud desk in the Decision Desk with the classification and the authentication evidence and only the allowed outcomes (approve, approve after a callback, hold for the holder's confirmation, or deny and open a takeover case).
Write back and notify
The new SIM or the eSIM profile is provisioned and written to the line in the BSS, the system of record, with the old SIM deactivated; the account holder receives the immediate notification through a channel other than the new SIM (the email and the app, and a text to the old SIM before cut-over) with a way to stop or report the change; the request, the authentication method and the result are retained for the record the rules require.

Where it ends: The SIM changed only after an authentication the rules accept, flagged lines were decided by the fraud desk, the BSS holds the new SIM, and the holder was told at once with a way to stop it. The Decision Trace shows the classification, the authentication method and any decision; the Audit Trace shows the request, the authentication and the write with time.

Runtime enforcement

What is enforcedwhile the work runs.

The regulations preloaded in Callvu Studio and the bank's own policies, applied as steps that run, not lines in a binder. A step that breaks a rule does not run, so a completed run was compliant.

Regulations

FCC SIM swap and port-out rules (47 CFR 64.2010(h) and 64.1120(e), the 2023 Report and Order in WC Docket 21-341): Carriers must use secure methods to authenticate a customer before effecting a SIM change (methods the Commission deems secure, not readily available biographical information), must notify the customer immediately of any SIM change request before the change is made and provide a means to stop it, must offer the customer the option to lock the account against SIM changes and port-outs, must keep records of SIM change requests and the authentication used, must train employees, and must establish safeguards against employee access to the authentication information; failed authentication attempts are tracked and limited.
FCC CPNI rules (47 CFR 64.2010): A carrier must authenticate a customer before disclosing call detail or account information or making account changes, using a password or other authentication that is not based on readily available biographical or account information; the account holder must be notified of account changes including a password, PIN, address of record or online account change, and the carrier must keep records of authentication and of any breach.
Carrier security policy and the GSMA eSIM specifications: The carrier's policy sets the step-up ladder, the lock behavior, the flags that require the fraud desk and the cooling period after a credential change; the eSIM transfer follows the entitlement and profile download rules of the device makers and the GSMA standards, which the provisioning applies.

Company policies

No SIM change without a secure authentication method; a knowledge question alone never qualifies, in any channel.
A flagged line is decided by the fraud desk, never by the agent under pressure.
The holder is notified immediately through a channel the new SIM does not control, with a way to stop the change.
The BSS is the system of record for the SIM and the line; the authentication record is retained.

Controls

Request and risk classification.
Secure authentication with a step-up ladder and attempt limits.
Requester role check (holder or authorized user with SIM rights).
Decision Desk for flagged lines.
BSS provisioning with old SIM deactivation.
Immediate holder notification with a stop option and record retention.

Clocks and deadlines

Notification: Immediately on the request, before or at the change, through a channel other than the new SIM.
Cooling period: The carrier's hold after a recent password, PIN or port-out PIN change before a SIM change proceeds by rule.
Record retention: The request and the authentication retained for the period the rules and the policy set.

Documents and checks

The request with its channel and classification
The authentication method and result
Any fraud desk decision
The BSS write and the old SIM deactivation
The notification and the retained record

In the Decision Trace

The classification and the risk flags.
The authentication method and why it was accepted.
Any decision and the person.

In the Audit Trace

The request with channel and time.
The authentication attempts with time.
The write, the deactivation and the notification with time.

The handoff

Between the front doorand the back office.

The front door

The app, the website, a store, the contact center or an AI assistant; the authentication always on a secure screen the agent cannot see.

The back office

The fraud desk decides only flagged lines; the BSS and the notification run from the process.

The Decision Desk

A flagged line (an account lock, a recent takeover report, a change pattern, a requester and device mismatch) goes to the fraud desk in the Decision Desk with the evidence and only approve, approve after callback, hold for the holder, or deny and open a takeover case.

Proof

Live at AT&T.Published results only.

Each result is a published claim, with its code on agents.callvu.com, where its status, source and last verified date are kept.

AT&T runs close to 100 processes on Callvu, including transfers of billing responsibility, port-outs, line separations, SIM changes, activations, payment arrangements, billing, prepaid and top-ups, collections, account takeover reports, authorized user changes, device financing agreements and business account onboarding.

TEL-02 · Self-asserted · verified 2026-11-05

At AT&T Business, Callvu worked inside the existing contact center platform with no changes to internal processes.

ATT-03 · Customer-attested · verified 2026-11-02

Every run produces a Decision Trace (why each AI action was allowed) and every workflow execution an Audit Trace (the chronological governance record).

ENF-03 · Self-asserted · verified 2026-11-02

Callvu integrates with the BSS and billing systems Amdocs, Netcracker, Ericsson and CSG, and with the API-first cloud BSS platforms many MVNOs run on.

TEL-03 · Self-asserted · verified 2026-11-05

Questions

What buyers ask next,answered plainly.

How is the customer authenticated?

With a method the FCC rules accept: a one-time passcode to the existing device, the account PIN on a secure screen, an app approval, or an identity document in a store, with step-up on failure; never a knowledge question alone.

What does the account holder receive?

An immediate notification through a channel the new SIM does not control, with a way to stop or report the change.

Can a customer block SIM changes?

Yes. The account lock the rules require stops SIM changes and port-outs until the holder removes it with authentication, and a request on a locked line goes to the fraud desk.

Related processes

Port-out request and PIN reset Account takeover report Account PIN and password reset eSIM activation on a new device Compared with the alternatives Try it in the sandbox All telecom processes

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