Recognized as one of the fastest-growing MVNOs (Mobile Virtual Network Operators) in Poland, the company is redefining what it means to be a mobile operator.

By adopting a “Netflix-style” subscription model with no long-term contracts or paperwork, the service is clearly tailored to the expectations of modern users.

For those who haven’t switched yet, what exactly is FONIA?

We are a fully digital operator providing telecommunications services in a flexible subscription model. You download the app, hook up your card, and you’re good to go without contracts and paper agreements. From the very beginning, FONIA has been all about giving our customers freedom: the freedom to use the service, change it, or leave at any time. On top of that, we help you save money with cashback, where purchases from over 600 online stores are credited directly to their FONIA account.

You recently redesigned your entire onboarding process. Was there a specific "breaking point" that forced that change?

It was a combination of regulatory pressure and a technological gap. In Poland, the Anti-Terrorism Act requires every phone number to be registered to a verified identity.

We rely heavily on electronic IDs, specifically bank login verification like MojeID. It's secure and fast. But the reality is, not everyone has access to it. We faced a massive issue where foreigners, or younger customers using popular fintechs, simply couldn't use these local eIDs. We had this recurring scenario where some customers would hit a wall during verification.

You must have researched the market. Why did you decide to go with Authologic?

Speed was our number one criterion. I knew the Authologic team from previous projects, so the trust was there. But ultimately, it came down to agility.

It was just a smooth process that matched our own pace as a digital company.

Was there anything about our platform that you saw as particularly valuable at the time?

We needed a solution that didn't force us to choose between security and coverage. Authologic offered a unified hub. It allowed us to keep prioritizing high-converting eIDs for locals, but provided a seamless fallback to your OCR (Optical Character Recognition) technology for everyone else.

This was critical for us. If a user doesn't have a Polish bank account, the system automatically offers the OCR path to scan a passport or residence card. We were very happy to finally offer a good experience to all users, not just the ones with the "right" bank.

Could you walk us through the new workflow? How exactly does the process look now?

Now, verification happens before the customer even fills out the form. The system pulls the name, surname, and document number automatically. The user doesn't have to type anything manually.

What results did you see?

Well, we saw major improvements.

Because we unlocked an alternative verification method for foreigners, we could accept customers of all nationalities. We didn't expect to go global so quickly, but we are seeing users from all over the world.

So glad to hear that! Now that you’ve solved this identity bottleneck, what’s next for FONIA?

We want to be the default choice for anyone who wants a modern, paperless experience. On the customer onboarding side, we plan to keep adding new methods to make this process as seamless as possible for everyone. If we can verify anyone, anywhere, the world stays open.

And if you could give one piece of advice to a peer implementing identity verification today, what would it be?

Education is key. Users are naturally suspicious.

You have to explain exactly what is happening and assure them it is secure. Once we improved our pre-verification communication, the drop-off rates decreased significantly. Don't just implement the tool. You must guide the user through it.

Thank you and congratulations on your growth!