Sept. 3, 2024
You probably do
In a world of increasingly sophisticated identity fraud, it's tough for many businesses to balance security with a great user experience.
In this piece, we'll tackle a question every online business has--do I really need phone verification?
By the end, you'll understand that these services not only safeguard your business from identity fraud, but--by increasing customer trust, decreasing fake accounts, and keeping you compliant with the law--phone verification helps you run your business better, with a customer base that's more loyal and far more trusting online.
In today's world, verifying someone's identity is more important than ever. Phone verification services are one way you can do this and an increasingly important tool in protecting against fraud and making sure your customers really are who they claim to be.
Phone verification services are key to secure user sign-ups on your platform. Identity theft is getting more advanced, and fraudsters have all the tools they need to make a fake account and undermine your business. With a phone verification service in place, however, your platform is far less likely to be misused. When you make users verify their identity by text or by phone, you can truly know who is using your platform. In real life, phone verification is the only way to put a stop to users gaming the system and fraudsters making a fake account.
But why does a verified identity matter? To a user, if you're protecting their security, you're also protecting them and their ability to use your platform. When there's protection, they'll use your platform more, and that's good for the user and for you.
It's more important than ever to earn your customers' trust. Everyone has had a data breach, knows someone who has, or has had their identity stolen. When companies use phone verification services like TeleSign, they build proof points that show customers they can trust them—and that they're in it for the long haul. This type of security doesn't just safeguard customer data, it increases your engagement and your conversion.
For example, many e-commerce companies notice a bump in sales once they add verification to their funnel. Customers feel better about spending money when they know the company is protecting them and their PII. With phone verification, people feel secure entering more real information, give up less false data, and that results in more retention and loyalty.
The best thing about phone verification? You'll see a huge reduction in fake accounts. Since users have to add a real phone number, it's a big deterrent for people registering fake accounts. When you've weeded out fake accounts, you're left with a much more valuable user database. This is critical for companies when it comes time to craft targeted marketing strategies and analyze their demographics.
With a clean user database, companies can optimize their own structures in the knowledge that they're focusing their efforts on actual users, rather than getting sidetracked dealing with fake accounts. Those interactions and communications are also higher quality since they know they're reaching a real audience.
With how strict compliance is, especially with KYC (know your customer), any sort of phone verification service is a godsend. Most industries have very strict laws around verifying your customer, and if you don't comply, you're going to get a fine, or even worse, get in legal trouble. Verifying the phone number as part of the onboarding process just makes compliance easier, and lets you dot your i's and cross your t's. Not only does it protect you legally, but it shows you take customer safety and security very seriously. By showing that you comply with KYC requirements, you're able to stand out in your industry and give your customers more peace of mind.
Implementing phone verification services may decrease your fraud detection rate. Some companies that have implemented phone verification services have reported being able to detect as much as 98% of fraud. That's amazing!
The reason this is so impactful is because when companies can reduce the amount of money they lose to fraud, they can take that money and invest it back into growth strategies that help them operate more efficiently. As the internet grows and more services are digitized in order to be offered online, detecting and preventing fraud will be crucial to creating a digitally sustainable and secure environment for all.
In today's digital age, phone verification is more important than ever. When businesses neglect to use this critical tool, they leave themselves vulnerable to a range of risks—including fraud and security threats. With nothing in place to verify identity, bad actors can easily steal and exploit accounts, leading to significant financial losses.
Scammers deliberately target companies without phone verification to exploit easy identity verification loopholes. Rates of identity theft and account takeover are rising, and they can hit your company where it hurts: the wallet. Unauthorized transactions aren't just a matter of a small bit of directly lost money; they can lead to increased operational costs associated with handling security issues. Fraud can destroy the hard-won good reputation of your brand, a high price to pay in terms of long-term, difficult-to-recover brand equity. Companies should realize the high costs associated with not having phone verification, and take steps to protect themselves.
Because scammers can slip through weak verification systems without being caught, it's easier for them to get customer data. Once they have that, they can use it themselves or sell it to someone who will use it for malicious purposes that will harm the company. Trust is key in business. If a customer doesn't feel like their personal information is safe, they won't stick around. And word travels fast, especially today. It only takes one incident to bring a company's world crashing down. And that can spell the end of a company's reputation. Companies need to ensure their verification is strong enough to stop any threats that would use a weakness to their advantage.
Businesses without strong verification lose customer trust and customer trust affects user engagement and user retention. When customers feel good about their interactions and transactions, they come back more often. A good experience and good verification bring customers back. If they've had a bad experience, they leave. They'll go to a competitor they consider safer. Trust is really important; once lost, hard to get back and takes a lot of work and a lot of time.
Not to mention, companies that aren't using phone number verification could land themselves in hot water because they're not adhering to identity verification laws. In many places, you're required to prove someone's identity to a certain standard, and it's high in industries like finance and healthcare. In these cases, there are bodies regulating it, and they can fine and reprimand companies that fail to meet the standard. Other legal complications include being sued by the people who were harmed, which can be very expensive. To avoid all of this, companies have to learn what the rules are, and then use whatever method(s) will meet them.
Users want to feel secure, and many customers simply won't trust a business that doesn't have some form of identity verification. The customer-business emotional connection is tenuous and crucial; a security failure can be enough to make someone immediately distrust your business and take their business elsewhere. Most people value their own security above all else, and employing a strong phone verification process is one way to signal that you take user security seriously. You'll significantly enhance user satisfaction and loyalty, distinguishing you from others in your industry.
You'll need phone verification. Not because it's "the right thing to do" -- but because you need to. You'll need to neutralize these drawbacks if you want to keep your customers' trust and ensure their security and peace of mind. For verification processes, consider services that start at $0.25 per verification to help protect your users' information effectively.
Phone verification services help protect peoples' online identities. At its most basic level, verification simply sends a one-time SMS code to the user's phone. The user enters this code back into the application to prove themselves. It's easy, and adds an extra layer of security ensuring that only the person that has access to the phone number can verify themselves. In a world where online impersonation and fraud are big problems, SMS verification to verify users is becoming an increasingly important item.
Verifying someone with SMS should be quick and easy; users should be able to verify in seconds. For example, when a user signs up for an application, they'll input their phone number. As soon as they input their phone number, the system will issue a unique code and send it to the phone number via SMS. The user then should only have to key in this code into an input field in the application. Only if the correct code is entered will the system verify the user and enable secure access.
Many phone verification services offer powerful identity verification APIs that can be easily integrated with your systems, which is important because you probably don't want to change your systems very much. APIs allow developers to make these methods work with their applications with minimal effort, and to automate most of the verification process.
For example, services like Twilio have ample documentation to help you integrate these APIs—usually with code examples and quick start guides that make it easy for developers to understand how to drop SMS verification into their applications. An API allows for real-time data exchange and verification in real time, with no time lag. This is key for user experience as well as security.
By building two-factor authentication (2FA) into your applications, you make it even more difficult for someone to access your app without your permission. With 2FA, in addition to their password, the user needs to provide their phone number (something they know) and then demonstrate that they own that phone number, usually by taking a phone call or receiving and entering a code sent to them via SMS. The 2nd verification is in addition to the phone number, so it's much harder for someone to access without permission, as they would need to not only know the password, but also have the phone in their control.
2FA can be different types, such as time-based one-time passwords (TOTPs) or SMS. This is really good for the security of your app, and makes it much more difficult for anyone trying to gain unauthorized access. Every verification that we log, we log, so you have an audit trail to trace back security breaches and unauthorized access.
Companies like Twilio are leading the way in offering elegant solutions for businesses to achieve effective verification. They have great documentation that shows you how to implement SMS verification correctly step-by-step. Sometimes they even have code snippets you can use to get set up fast, even if you have no idea how to set up verification at all.
With tools and templates like these, companies can achieve effective verification securely and easily. And you can even implement best practices like retry logic for SMS verification so your users are more likely to get the code they need without getting upset.
Real-time phone verification is just one use-case of phone verification services. And "valid" is not enough -- a valid, active, carrier number is very different from a valid number that doesn't exist.
Validating numbers in real-time helps businesses reduce fraud by preventing individuals from using fake or temporary numbers in the first place. The process also facilitates a better customer experience. If a user tries to sign up with a number that doesn't validate, they can be asked to correct it on the spot. That means companies don't have to worry about losing potential new users through drop-off.
Phone verification services empower organizations to safeguard themselves and their users from identity theft and fraudulent activity, all while facilitating a seamless verification process that's centered around the end-user.
Phone verification is a game changer in so many industries. It just makes business easier, and in many cases, reduces the risk of fraud. In this post, we'll run through a few different case studies to demonstrate how good verification practices delivered measurable outcomes in very different types of business.
One well-known fintech app recently reported a massive 95% decrease in fraudulent sign-ups after they introduced a phone verification service. It's a really good illustration of how strong verification can save you and protect your interests. By making users verify with their phone numbers, they were able to identify and weed out sketchy sign-ups right off the top. The outcome? They saved a ton of money because they didn't have to deal with any fraud cases, plus they got to earn the trust of their genuine users. The money and resources they would have spent on fraud can now be spent on growth. So now, instead of worrying about fraud, they can focus on innovation and serving their customers.
One e-commerce site found out just how far verification can take them when they added phone verification- transactions went up by a whopping 40%. Good for the business, good for the customer. Those who were having difficulty completing transactions found it much easier after phone verification was introduced. By verifying and confirming phone numbers for their users, the e-commerce site was able to stop cart abandonment due to fraud alerts and security concerns. It's just one example of how strong verification can keep your users where you want them- engaged. And you just can't put a price on that!
When it comes to gaming, phone registration is a game.
One gaming site saw over 80% fewer account takeovers, an increase in trust among users in their community. Gamers care a lot about security, and gamers know their platform has very strong phone verification, so they feel confident that their account and personal information is safe. With fewer instances of unauthorized access, gamers can play more, and that increased play equals increased trust and more retention and activity, which means loyal users—critical to the long-term success of gaming platforms.
Multiple phone verification solutions are the key to reliable, deliverable one-time password (OTP) messages. When you have multiple phone verification solutions, you can trust that your messaging is strong—so even if one provider goes down due to a technical issue or service outage, your messages will still be delivered. This multi-layered approach tends to result in much lower messaging failure rates overall and thus much more effective user experiences, because your verification process is super reliable. That way you can give your users even more confidence that their accounts are secure.
Businesses who prioritize phone verification and regularly refresh their user verification flows see higher compliance rates and higher user retention. By refreshing and remodeling their verification strategies they're able to continue to meet new rules and regulations, and not become susceptible to undesirable ones—while making their end users happier. People want to transact with companies that actually do prioritize their safety and play by the rules.
In the end, there are real proof points that phone verification works for many kinds of businesses, in a fraud context or in a user context. It's a clear example to show businesses can leverage technology to create safe, easy experiences for their users.
When it comes to phone verification services, there are several things to think about to make sure the one you choose does what you need it to do. Things like speed, accuracy, and the ability to handle international numbers can all affect which solution is right for you. Speed matters because it's a user experience issue -- the faster it can verify numbers, the less friction people have to sign up for your product. Accuracy is important so you can be confident that only people with real numbers get through, and people with junk numbers are weeded out, so that your user base is strong. And because most companies are global these days, you'll want a solution that can handle international phone numbers in different formats and from different regions.
Another thing to think about is how the phone verification service you choose will be able to integrate. You'll want to make sure they have really good API documentation so you can easily integrate it in your systems. A good API with good documentation means less time to integrate and fewer errors in the long run. On top of this, look for services that provide libraries for different languages to make integration even easier and reduce the time you and your team need to spend building verification into your product.
Evaluate based on the other factors we mentioned—remember, you want a service that will grow with you and is capable of meeting all of your functional needs. Also, take cost into consideration as you look for a service that can handle your needs now, but again, that's also well-equipped to deal with growth and that won't break the bank. These kinds of services generally charge you according to usage, so depending on the number of verifications you're running or the particular functionalities you need, pricing should differ. Some offer a lower base cost but then cap the number of verifications you can run or charge you more to access certain advanced features. Others are on the pricier side, but you get more verifications per month or your extra features are included. And remember, you can use a free tier or a trial period to make sure the service will work for you before you sign up for anything.
User reviews and testimonials are an excellent way to gauge a verification service's reliability and customer service. Prospective buyers can see what other people who've actually used the service have to say about where they really shine -- and where they may fall short. A solid service will have lots of positive reviews about how quickly they respond, and how good their customer service is -- both important when you're likely to run into issues and need help! Testimonials will also show you real-life examples of how they're using the service, and how it works for different use cases. A dependable service will not only give you a successful verification, but good support as well -- and that can make a huge difference in your user management!
You'll need a phone verification service that's nimble, because the world moves fast. You'll want SMS, but you'll also want voice verification, too. Because while most people will be able to use SMS verification because it's so easy, some people will need to use voice calls. Especially people in regions where the internet isn't widespread, or where there are areas where the mobile network is really bad. By having multiple ways to verify users, you can ensure that everyone can use your service, and that you'll have high successful sign-up rates, and low abandonment rates. And being able to deliver verification in a variety of ways means that your service can be used in a variety of situations, and you'll be able to serve all potential users in all environments.
If you keep all of this in mind, you'll be able to have effective phone verification for your business, and you'll be able to not only keep your user authentication strong, but your overall service quality high, and your customer satisfaction high too. All of this conscientious verification will help you make a good, dependable business that people can count on.
In the digital age, digital transactions are an essential part of doing business. Phone verification services are essential for protecting your users and your platform from fraud. They add an extra layer of security by requiring users to verify their phone number via SMS or phone call so that they can't impersonate someone else and create a fake account. In this post, we'll explore all the ways you should be using phone verification to build trust with your users, meet legal requirements, and catch more fraud. We'll also share real-life examples of how different companies are using phone verification to catch third-party fraud, reduce fraud, and improve user engagement and sales.
As your business grows and you acquire more and more users, security becomes increasingly important. Using a strong phone verification flow is one of the ways you can help make the internet a safer place and keep your users happy.
Phone verification helps businesses verify user authenticity, prevent identity fraud, and increase user trust. By ensuring that a user is who they say they are through phone call or SMS identity verification, businesses create a safe environment where more users are able to engage and are available to transact.
Phone verification is a great way to help prevent identity fraud because you're requiring users to enter a real phone number in order to sign up. It verifies their identity by sending a verification code to that number via SMS. It's also a good way to block fraudulent accounts; much of the time, fraudsters won't have access to a real phone number.
By asking users to verify their phone number, you are effectively adding an extra layer of trust. When users feel more secure, they're more likely to use your app, and you can convert and retain more users.
Requiring phone verification will help cut down on the number of fake accounts people can create on your platform -- they need a real phone number to verify. The fewer fake signups you have, the cleaner your user database will be, which is good for targeted marketing and just in general.
Phone verification services help you stay compliant with services like Know Your Customer (KYC), by offering a secure way to verify user identity. Compliance helps keep you on the right side of the law and shows you're taking action to protect your users.
Businesses can implement phone verification really easily with easy-to-use APIs that they can simply plug into their existing systems. They can also implement 2FA (two-factor authentication) to make it even more secure—little bit more work to verify than just the phone number.
Yup, the phone verification service you choose can make a big difference in user experience. Speed, real-time validation, and support for international phone numbers are crucial for a frictionless signup experience and lower dropoff.
Case studies have shown a range of benefits from phone verification. A fintech app saw 95% less fraud, e-commerce saw 40% more successful transactions, and a gaming site saw 80% less account takeovers. Clearly, having a good verification system pays off in a big way.
When choosing a phone verification provider, businesses should consider things like speed and accuracy, ease of integration, pricing, user reviews, etc. And you'll want to be able to use the service in a lot of different situations -- for example, you shouldn't have to choose between using SMS or voice verification, because you'll want the flexibility to cater to both types of users.
Phone verification can enhance your business by preventing revenue loss to fraud, increasing customer trust, and improving the user experience. A secure environment allows you to focus on innovation and customer service rather than spending time and resources fighting fraudulent activity.
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