Sept. 10, 2024
Struggling to secure online transactions and keep bad actors out of your business? In an age where security is top of mind, user verification is crucial. You can't just choose any phone number verification service----it's not a nice-to-have, it's a necessary tool for maintaining customer trust and upholding user security. In this post, I'll discuss why phone number verification is important, the various verification technologies out there, and the limitations and benefits of each, and the key advantages you'll achieve when you implement these solutions----all while enhancing your user experience and operational efficiency.
These days, if you want to be sure that your user is really the person they claim to be, and protect yourself from fraud, you need a phone number verification service that's up to the task. As e-commerce and online transactions become the norm, phone number ownership verification is more important than ever. Verifying phone numbers empowers you to protect yourself, keep your customers' data safe, and give them the best possible experience.
Phone verification can help you to make sure users are really who they say they are while they are using your digital product, and help you find and reduce fraud. In this online shop example, you could use phone verification to prevent chargebacks and identity theft by ensuring the phone number on the transaction really belongs to the user. This is a good way to build trust with your users and keep someone from hacking a credit card and using someone else's.
Criminal fraud like account takeover and fake accounts can be dramatically reduced with proper phone verification in place. It will be obvious that users with verified numbers are a lot more secure than users without, because these systems really do make your digital space more safe. Phone verification is just an extra level of security you need to have in this day and age as breaches become more and more common.
The user will receive a one-time code by SMS or voice call, which they will then enter on your platform to get verified. The two-step system verifies that the person trying to log in is the same person who owns the phone number.
Best of all? It's so simple, users will actually complete the verification process. They'll receive the code in just a few seconds, and pasting it back into your site takes no time at all. This quick verification process beats slow, clunky alternatives that will almost certainly scare your users off because they're too much of a pain for them to bother with. Because it's so simple to use, companies will select it for verifying their own customers.
There are a number of verification technologies available to you, and the most popular are SMS verification, voice verification, and app-based verification. People like using SMS because it's easy to send a user a code right to their phone quickly! You could also use voice, which some users might find more convenient if they don't have easy text message access. App-based verification, like a dedicated authentication app (e.g. Google Authenticator) is good for high security, or if a user doesn't have cell service, so you might use that sometimes. Each has its own bells and whistles, so mix and match to make the system that works best for your user base. You can use different methods to give options and to save time overall.
The best phone validation services will perform a real-time look-up against a database to confirm that a phone number is valid and currently active. The system is essentially looking for a match in a database that affirms the phone number the user has given is indeed active and belongs to a real user.
If you don't do this, you'll be allowing invalid or inactive numbers into your system, missing opportunities for your business, and providing a bad user experience.
Real-time verification allows you to identify and filter out fraudulent or untrustworthy numbers before they enter your system. This in turn helps improve the quality of your customer database.
Integrating phone verification solutions can significantly reduce the time it takes to onboard a new customer and do so more securely. Every step of onboarding that can be sped up is one that companies can use to begin serving new users more quickly and securely. Like a bank that can verify your phone number almost instantly -- so they can get you signed up for an account much more quickly and still keep you safe.
Integrating these solutions also makes for much more efficient customer service. When there's less fraud, they can invest more headcount in higher-value tasks, like talking to real customers, and not having to think about fraud all the time.
It is also good for data integrity. If a user capture system inadvertently or intentionally slips in an invalid or scammy number, it will cost the business more to communicate with that person, cost them time in necessarily following up with them, and detract from their CRM system. With phone verification, businesses can know that their customer database is clean and legit, and that their communications are top tier. Prices can range from $5 to $1000 a month depending on call volume.
In today's digital age, making sure people are who they claim to be is important to security and to user experience. There are different verification technologies that can help achieve this, and SMS verification and voice verification are two of the most common solutions.
SMS verification is a simple, but effective way businesses can verify that their user is who they say they are. We do this by sending a one-time unique code to the user's phone number, over SMS. When they receive the code, they'll enter it into the application or website they're trying to sign into. That way, you not only verify that the user has access to the phone number they signed up with, but you add an additional layer of security to protect against unauthorized access.
SMS is such a popular verification method because it's that simple and that effective. Businesses can easily add this feature to a list of verification technologies or APIs to choose from, and secure user accounts without adding any friction to your user journey. Because the code sent to SMS is time-sensitive, users are more likely to enter it quickly, meaning more security, and SMS can be sent across networks, so users in areas with less infrastructure can use this.
SMS is very effective, but there are some drawbacks. Poor signal, network congestion, or device incompatibility can result in your users experiencing delays in receiving their SMS. Users also may not be able to receive their SMS if their phone is dead, or they've lost access to their device. Regardless of the cons, it's still the best for verifying a phone number, because it's so universally accepted.
Voice verification is a great option for users who won't be able to receive the SMS. Instead of an SMS, users will receive a voice call that reads a verification code to them. This way, you can ensure users who are unlikely to receive an SMS (like those living in areas with poor mobile network coverage) are still able to verify when they use your product.
Voice verification can be particularly useful for older users or users who are less comfortable with mobile technology. Voice messages are easier for these users to understand and interact with, so you can more easily verify their identity, and you can build trust with them. They'll trust your product more if they feel more secure following the instructions read to them, especially when it's their personal information being read.
Like SMS verification, voice verification is the process of communicating unique, time-sensitive verification codes that the user must enter in order to prove their identity. And, like SMS verification, you can use voice verification as a safety net for users who may struggle to receive SMS messages, so you can deliver a better experience to all of your users.
Verification has changed a lot. There are new APIs that make all kinds of things possible. One of the most common uses for a number verification API is simply to make verification really easy to implement.
They can do a lot of stuff--even just the basic ones. From SMS or voice verification, to more complex stuff like 2FA or even biometrics. And companies can automate the verification, so it's less hassle for the users, but still easy for them to keep everything secure.
Plus a lot of these have really great documentation and support to help developers get things up and running in no time. You can write a few lines of code and suddenly, you can enable different verification channels, and use more than one way to keep accounts safe. Which not only keeps accounts safe, but also keeps users happy.
More and more businesses are adding on additional steps like geo-location checks that can check where a user's phone is in the process so they can get more precise with their verifications and further reduce fraud.
With geo-location checks, the phone number is confirmed to be at the same location as the user at the time of verification. If it's not, then the business can flag the verification for escalation or prompt for additional verification steps—giving them even more confidence that the person on the other end of the phone is who they say they are—especially for high-value transactions or high-stakes data access.
They can also use the location data to more accurately identify fraudulent behavior. For instance, if a user tries to verify from a location that's unusual for them, then the business can automatically step-up verification to keep everything secure.
Today's verification technology is great because you can send and receive information in real time. When you can give feedback immediately, you can eliminate all the waiting users might have to do while they twiddle their thumbs and fume.
Real-time verification means you can let users know right away that yes, this phone number is valid, and yes, that verification code has been sent and received. With instant feedback, users might be able to get all the way through registration or checkout in just one session, instead of having to wait for more steps or sends/reloads. Use verification APIs to catch up to the rest of the world, and to catch your users before they slip away.
Thanks to advances in verification tech and real-time-friendly APIs, verifying users is easier than ever, and it makes your app better to use too. With a combination of SMS verification, voice verification, and optional location, you can secure your app without inconveniencing your users.
In a digital world, there are more ways than ever for someone else to gain access to your user accounts. Phone verification services help with this - it boosts security and a whole bunch of other things that all matter for customer trust and the growth of your business.
The highest concern of customers who are adding phone verification is fraud reduction—and they can achieve up to an 80% reduction in fraud. This protects against all kinds of fraud they see in their business. By verifying phone numbers at user registration or transaction, customers can prevent those costly fraud issues, including unauthorized account access and identity theft, which are both very expensive and damaging. Phone verification is the end-all be-all in making sure the user is good before you give them something or they transact. For example, if you're using 2-factor authentication, you might SMS a user a one-time code, which makes it much harder for a fraudster to do anything, as only the true user could use their account to complete important actions.
And obviously, there's advanced attacks, like SMS pumping and toll fraud, that you'd be vulnerable to if you have bad verification. Proactively verifying your customer base doesn't just block suspicious activity, but also in the event you do experience a costly fraud incident, you'll be really happy you stopped all of it right away when you could, as it stops all of it before it happens, you also save your resources and operate more efficiently.
Customer trust is a huge part of keeping customers coming back and remaining loyal. When companies put different verification processes in place, they're really showing users that they care about security, and that makes them feel safe and more likely to engage with a site. Trust is a big deal -- we're always hearing about data breaches and security hacks, and a good verification process will reassure customers that their information is protected and therefore happy.
There are also a ton of online platforms with good verification processes in place -- and those are the ones with high repeat users. When users feel safe on a platform, they're more likely to come back and engage with the brand, and more likely to recommend that brand to others. This can really reduce a company's customer acquisition costs and act as a strong moat for a business.
Verification is important not only for security, but the overall quality of your user base. When you verify phone numbers, you can clean and filter the results to filter out spam and fraud. Otherwise you could end up with a lot of bad or fake data, and the quality of your analytics will be diluted. You want good quality data! You can use good quality data for personalized user experience, targeted marketing campaigns, informed decision-making, etc.
And you won't be wasting resources reaching out to non-existent or fraudulent users. For example, if you were sending marketing email, and you didn't verify your email list, you would have a higher bounce rate and lower ROI on your marketing spend. When you verify, you can rest assured that you are only spending resources marketing to real, interested, actual users, and that you are getting the most out of your spend.
Feel secure? You should. Phone verification helps prevent unauthorized access and data breaches. When you add phone verification to key steps required for major actions (like updating account details, resetting passwords, or making a purchase) you're adding barriers that would-be attackers are less likely to cross. Hackers look for weak security measures and will exploit weaknesses to enter and retrieve sensitive data. Customers value strong security measures. In a world where data privacy is top of mind, robust verification not only protects users, but improves how businesses are perceived.
Use phone verification as a tool to ensure your users engage with your product in a way that's sustainable. A secure environment is one in which your users can explore, transact, and interact without fear, and that ease of use leads to user engagement, which drives conversion, so you can grow a loyal customer base.
Businesses are digitizing more and more, and as they do, user verification will become ubiquitous. Verifying users today, right now, ensures that you're prepared. Use that security to enable user engagement, and you can create a flywheel effect -- users engage because they feel secure, and they trust you enough to give feedback, which you can use to grow.
But phone user verification isn't just about security. It's about strategy, and when done right, it can protect your brand, improve your user experience, and help you compete and win in your market.
Phone verification is more important than ever. Making sure you're talking to the person you think you're talking to can make all the difference, and it can be what saves businesses from a major headache. Skipping phone number verification can mean increased fraud rates, operational inefficiencies, and in the worst case, fines.
Not verifying phone numbers could pose a serious security threat to your business. When businesses don't verify phone numbers, they're unintentionally leaving the door open to fraud and the possibility of financial losses potentially reaching tens of thousands of dollars. Fraudsters can use fake or stolen phone numbers to access data or complete transactions that harm your business. If you don't protect your customers, they won't trust you, and you'll have fewer customers because of the reputation you've earned. Those financial repercussions of fraud stick around much longer than the initial loss. You'll have to spend money to investigate the issue, repay the customers who were impacted, and implement new security systems to stop it from happening again. It all adds up, and over time, it eats into your bottom line, and you'll be spending your time and money on dealing with this instead of earning money. To prevent all of this from happening to your business, we strongly recommend you consider a phone number verification service that can confirm numbers in real time and flag any issues before they impact your business.
Having the wrong or out-of-date phone numbers is a huge communication blocker and is frustrating for businesses and customers alike. When businesses don't use verification on their lists, they end up messaging or calling people who don't have those numbers anymore, causing confusion, missed opportunities to engage, and putting their customers off.
For example, if they have a promotion and they are using texts heavily to notify customers of the promotion. If they didn't have verified numbers, they could be missing a significant portion of their target market and could have an extremely poor response, wasting their marketing budget. Proper phone verification ensures that their contacts stay fresh so they can message, listen, and make their customers happy.
Businesses need to verify data so that they don't get penalized for fraud, and so that they don't get penalized for user contact. Nearly every industry is already--or soon will be--regulated in order to keep consumer data secure and ensure a certain standard of user data collection and storage best practice. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), for instance, is an EU law that requires businesses to verify personal information like phone numbers in order to keep it private. If you don't, you'll get fined and other bad stuff will happen to you; people will take you to court.
Authorities crack down on companies that don't protect data, but also companies that don't respect user contact rules. So phone verification isn't only a good idea for a company to respect people's time; it's a necessity for a company to get along well with the people they are working for.
Inaccurate phone numbers can be a major operational headache for businesses. A lot of their automated systems rely on accurate contact information from CRMs to marketing campaigns to customer support systems. When they hit inaccurate numbers, things break and the business is out of work and out of luck.
A missed phone call or text can break an automated notification or reminder for an appointment or service update, leading to a snowball effect where frustrated customers reach out to support to figure out what's happening, tying up resources that didn't need to be tied up. With phone verification in place, businesses can avoid all of that and make their operation a lot more efficient and have a lot more successful and productive transactions and interactions with customers.
Without verification, it's really bad for your customer trust and customer loyalty. If customers continue to have texts or calls reach their number, they will feel undervalued and irritated that a business is taking up space on their phone with spam. This is a bad user experience. Ultimately, that customer might take their business elsewhere, affecting your retention and, in turn, your customer loyalty.
For example, if customers consistently have communications destined for someone else reach them, they will begin to lose trust and professionalism in the business, whereas businesses that do use phone verification look more trustworthy and thoughtful because they do not send things to people who don't want them, and as a result, form good relationships, which in turn creates customer loyalty, ultimately benefiting the business' bottom line. Phone verification helps businesses to achieve the ideal relationship with customers, by instilling trust and increasing engagement and retention rates.
How do you choose the right phone number verification service? Picking the right verification service can be critical for businesses that rely on secure communications and trusted transactions. With an increasing number of verification providers available, you want to be sure that you're making the right choice. Here are some of the most important considerations to keep in mind when comparing phone verification services.
When it comes to phone verification services, you are spoiled for choice. Different services are good for different things -- so shopping around can really enhance your user experience and security. At a very simple level, most services will have SMS and voice verification -- but some more sophisticated services will also offer 2FA (two-factor authentication), liveliness detection, and much more robust fraud protection. For example, services like iDenfy and Seon will also help you verify documents, and provide much more comprehensive risk monitoring, so those guys are especially good for businesses that handle sensitive info. Knowing what's available helps ensure that you're using a phone verification service that's a good fit for you.
Cost is often the biggest factor when comparing verification services. You'll want to know how you'll be charged, and how that fits into your business' finances and usage. Some services charge per use, while others have subscription models, or some sort of tiered pricing based on features. You'll want to not only know how much they charge per verification, but how the pricing scales with your use. Some services offer trial periods, or flexible contracts so you can manage costs more easily. By comparing different pricing strategies, you can find a verification solution that suits your budget, without sacrificing the essentials.
Real-time verification is becoming more important as people demand quick, convenient service. It can help people get a better user experience by cutting down wait times and boosting security. And how fast and easy is it to implement on your end? The faster and easier, the more operational efficiency you get with us. Selecting a technology that works with what you've already got means less overhead and less disruption to your business as usual.
Good customer service is another thing I look for in a phone verification service. Like anything, things can go wrong, or you can have questions, and having fast and knowledgeable support staff makes all the difference in the world. Look for phone verification services with multiple customer support channels (live chat, phone support, and extensive documentation), but also look at the quality of their customer support through user reviews, which is a great way to see how reliable and responsive they are. Also, knowing you'll get support if you need it is actually a big deal.
Try free trials or demos of phone number verification services when you can. That way, you can test phone number verification for yourself, and see with your own eyes if a service will really work for you. You'll be able to see how they perform for you, on a small scale, in cases that are relevant to you. That way, you can be confident you're making the right choice!
You can run the numbers and see for yourself that the phone verification service you end up paying for is really the best value for your use case in the long term. Because phone verification technology is always changing, you'll have the knowledge you need to make good business decisions around security and efficiency.
In today's online world, phone number verification services are really useful for businesses that want to verify a user is who they say they are and prevent fraud. Checking phone numbers can help companies significantly reduce the risk of fraud like fake accounts and account takeovers, and foster trust with users, while also keeping their information secure. This can be done over SMS or a call, and bolstered with things like live database checks and geo-location. When you use verification services, not only does this make onboarding customers a breeze, it helps maintain data integrity in your database. The article stresses that if you skip checking phone numbers, you're going to have a higher fraud rate, you're going to communicate poorly with your users, and you might even face legal issues - all of which will erode any trust your users have in you and what you're doing. Choosing the right verification service is absolutely essential to your business and the future of your business.
Phone verification matters for the same reason that it matters for virtually any use case -- it holds users accountable and reduces the risk of fraud, including identity theft and account takeovers. This is crucial in e-commerce, where safe transactions mean safeguarding your financial data -- and your customers' trust.
Phone number verification usually works by sending a one-time code by SMS or voice call to the phone number you registered. You input the code to prove that you own that phone number. It's fast and easy, just two steps, and secure.
Most verification solutions fall into one of three categories -- SMS verification, voice call, or app-based methods. SMS is popular because it's fast, voice is helpful for folks who may not always receive text messages, and app-based is even more secure and works offline.
Real-time database checks is a service that validates phone numbers by checking them against a number of databases to tell if they're valid and what the status of the phone number. This allows businesses to avoid contacting invalid or disconnected phone numbers for a higher-quality customer database overall.
By adding phone verification to your stack, you can dramatically reduce onboarding time, improve security, and speed up customer service while maintaining the integrity of your data. It's a way to quickly verify users without exposing sensitive information or compromising the user experience.
Skipping phone verification can mean higher fraud and communication problems, regulatory penalties, inefficiency, and lower customer confidence, all of which can lead to financial losses, reputational harm, and bad customer experiences.
When comparing, you'll want to look at the types of service offered, the price, how important real-time verification is to you and the quality of customer service. Some of these verification services have free trials so you can give them a spin!
A strong phone verification flow communicates to your users that you are serious about security and helps establish trust and confidence. This confidence in security helps increase usage, loyalty, and establish a strong brand with your customers, all of which impacts the growth of your business.
Yes, good phone verification practices can help you maintain compliance with consumer communication and data privacy regulations and laws. Confirming that the contact information your customer has provided is accurate can help keep you out of legal trouble and preserve trust with your customer.
Phone verification reduces the risk of communicating with fake contacts, so you benefit from smoother workflows, fewer service delivery disruptions, and better marketing ROI—meaning businesses can allocate resources where they really matter: engaging with genuine customers.
A busy office scene illustrating phone number verification service
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