Suddenly costs for MobileID?

  • Hello,

    I have been using MobileID via a prepaid card for a few years, even from abroad. This has worked problem-free so far. MobileID has been using up my Prepaid-Guthaben for a few days/weeks. If my credit is empty, confirming a login via MobileID no longer works.

    Actually, MobileID should be free.

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    • Swisscom had an error in billing and has now resolved it. The MobileID no longer generates any costs for me.

    @Heiner70

    thanks for the contribution

    that can help

    Swisscom Mobile ID | Swisscom

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    @“x”#994626Swisscom provides you as a user with the Mobile ID free of charge. Individual service providers (e.g. online portals where you log in with Mobile ID) may charge you a fee for using the Mobile ID. If this is the case, the respective service provider will declare this on its website.

    In the terms of use, which you can find under the following link https://www.mobileid.ch/static/MID_App_NB_DE.pdf, it is again under point 6.

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    Current status: Yes, MobileID should be free, even from abroad, but it isn’t for me. Even the first communication with the request to enter the PIN costs me money. Swisscom currently doesn’t know why and has forwarded this to MobileID itself.

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    @Heiner70 wrote:

    Current status: Yes, MobileID should be free, even from abroad, but it isn’t for me. Even the first communication with the request to enter the PIN costs me money. Swisscom currently doesn’t know why and has forwarded this to MobileID itself.


    Hello @Heiner70, this is probably due to point 5 “Device and system requirements” in the terms of use linked above:

    Mobile ID requires an active connection to the SMS and data__** services** on your mobile service provider’s network.

    Since you can only switch the (roaming) data connection on or off on an Android cell phone globally, when the data connection is active, all other apps in the background automatically “help themselves” with data and thus empty your account!

    If you actually have an Android phone, I recommend you take a look at the NetGuard no root “Firewall” , which allows internet access to be restricted at the app level.

    For example, you could explicitly allow mobile data including roaming for the Mobile ID app and not for all other apps.

    But be careful: you have to get to know NetGuard a bit to understand the full range of functions.

    The FAQs https://github.com/M66B/NetGuard/blob/master/FAQ.md are also very helpful.

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    No, that’s definitely not the case. This is not an Android device, mobile data is disabled. I use the MobileID on the Swisscom SIM card, not the app!

    The terms of use state: “To use Mobile ID, an active connection to the telephony and SMS services in your mobile service provider’s network is required.”

    There is nothing about data connections.

    I check the account balance before requesting a MobileID and after requesting a MobileID and my account balance empties. If I don’t use MobileID, my account balance remains the same, so no other application uses the mobile data. I’m also constantly on WiFi.

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    There is no fixed Betrag per “event”, so it looks more like data consumption. Anything between 0.27 CHF and 0.81 CHF, seemingly always in 0.27 CHF blocks.

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    @Heiner70 wrote:

    No, that’s definitely not the case. This is not an Android device, mobile data is disabled. I use the MobileID on the Swisscom SIM card, not the app!

    The terms of use state: “To use Mobile ID, an active connection to the telephony and SMS services in your mobile service provider’s network is required.”

    There is nothing about data connections.

    I check the account balance before requesting a MobileID and after requesting a MobileID and my account balance empties. If I don’t use MobileID, my account balance remains the same, so no other application uses the mobile data. I’m also constantly on WiFi.


    Thanks for your clarification regarding the mobile operating system. My quote of the device and system requirements comes verbatim from the [https://www.mobileid.ch/static/MID\_App\_NB\_DE.pdf](https://www .mobileid.ch/static/MID_App_NB_DE.pdf)

    This is from the MobileID website itself, dated November 2020 and clearly states that a mobile data connection is necessary.

    WLAN is of no use in this case, just as it is with MMS (I know: legacy - I’m just giving it as an example), where a mobile data connection is also mandatory and WLAN is of absolutely no use.

    What is the source and date of your information? - It’s possible that something has changed.

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    Until a week ago, I regularly used Mobile ID as 2FA without a mobile data connection to access my Swisscom Kundencenter.

    Unfortunately, I can no longer test whether it would still work.

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    Hobby-Nerd ohne wirtschaftliche Abhängigkeiten zur Swisscom


    @Werner wrote:

    Until a week ago, I regularly used Mobile ID as 2FA without a mobile data connection to access my Swisscom Kundencenter.

    Unfortunately, I can no longer test whether it would still work.


    At home or abroad?

    This is about roaming.

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    @Anonymous

    Sorry, I didn’t notice.

    My use was domestically with a direct telephone connection to the Swisscom network.

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    Hobby-Nerd ohne wirtschaftliche Abhängigkeiten zur Swisscom

    There is a clear distinction in the document between use in CH and use in EU, but the device and system requirements do not differ in this respect: in both cases it says “… establishes an active connection to the SMS and data services in your mobile phone provider’s network.”

    The fact that @Heiner70 observes a debit of (data) credit supports this announcement from MobileID.

    sorry, I didn’t “invent” it (I can only read) 😁

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    @Heiner70 I tested it today with a work colleague from DE who also uses a Swisscom prepaid (inOne mobile prepaid) with Mobile ID.

    1. Connection via WLAN -> Mobile ID works -> no debit.

    2. Mobile data connection active -> Mobile ID works -> no debit.

    3. Neither WiFi nor mobile data connection active -> Mobile ID works -> no debit.

    Tariffs within EU/Western Europe:

    Incoming calls (EU/Western Europe): 0.27/min.

    SMS to Switzerland and to the country of residence (EU/Western Europe): CHF 0.27/SMS (Max. 160 characters)

    Mobile data use above the basic tariff: Not possible as a cause due to the costs.

    Please check on My-Swisscom which connection was exactly billed according to Verbindungsnachweis.

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    Thanks for your clarification regarding the mobile operating system. My quotation of the device and system requirements comes verbatim from the [https://www.mobileid.ch/static/MID\_App\_NB\_DE.pdf](https://www.mobileid .ch/static/MID_App_NB_DE.pdf)

    This is from the MobileID website itself, dated November 2020 and clearly states that a mobile data connection is necessary.

    WLAN is of no use in this case, just as it is with MMS (I know: legacy - I’m just giving it as an example), where a mobile data connection is also mandatory and WLAN is of absolutely no use.

    The file linked above is the “Terms and Conditions of Use Swisscom Mobile ID App”. As I said, I use Mobile ID via the SIM. There are separate terms of use for this: https://www.mobileid.ch/de/documents

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    Tariffs within EU/Western Europe:

    Incoming calls (EU/Western Europe): 0.27/min.

    SMS to Switzerland and the country of residence (EU/Western Europe): CHF 0.27/SMS (Max. 160 characters)

    Mobile data use above the basic tariff: Not possible as a cause due to the costs.

    Then the MobileID will probably be handled via SMS. First request from MobileID during a login attempt: 0.27 CHF, response with the PIN again 0.27 CHF and then apparently another response from MobileID 0.27 CHF. A successful authentication costs me 0.81 CHF. I don’t currently have full access to mySwisscom, and I also doubt that there is relevant individual proof of connection there for prepaid.

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    @Heiner70 wrote:

    Tariffs within EU/Western Europe:

    Incoming calls (EU/Western Europe): 0.27/min.

    SMS to Switzerland and the country of residence (EU/Western Europe): CHF 0.27/SMS (Max. 160 characters)

    Mobile data usage above the basic tariff: Not possible as a cause due to the costs.

    Then the MobileID will probably be handled via SMS. First request from MobileID during a login attempt: 0.27 CHF, response with the PIN again 0.27 CHF and then apparently another response from MobileID 0.27 CHF. A successful authentication costs me 0.81 CHF. I don’t currently have full access to mySwisscom, and I also doubt that there is relevant individual proof of connection there for prepaid.


    But there is. In MySwisscom under Prepaid Usage => Connections. SMS are also listed there.

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    14 days later

    Hello everyone

    Mobile ID can also be used free of charge abroad.

    During a system change, some prepaid customers experienced malfunctions.

    Thanks to your reports here, our technicians were able to find the cause and fix the error for all affected connections.

    Greetings Samuel

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