Truecaller Reaches 43m African Users

Global caller ID service and telephone search engine Truecaller has introduced an identity solution to help businesses prove their authenticity when making calls to customers, helping to boost safety and eliminate fraud.

The Truecaller app allows users to see who is calling and filters out spam calls and SMSes automatically.

The new enterprise solution, Truecaller Business Identity, allows businesses to verify their identities using a green verified business badge, accurately presenting the profile of the company – the name, photo and logo.

The new solution, according to Truecaller, brings greater trust and efficiency in communication between businesses and clients by letting consumers know the caller is an organisation verified by Truecaller.

Truecaller Business Identity has been initially launched in Africa, which the company says is a growing market for its services. As of today, there are over 43 million active Truecaller users in Africa.

With more of the African population switching to smartphones, there is a pressing need to increase trust in communication, as cyber fraud and scams using spoofed identities are on the rise across the continent, according to the company.

“Fraud continues to be a major issue across Africa, and as a company, Truecaller wanted to provide solutions on a business level as well as a personal level,” said Zakaria Hersi, director of business development at Truecaller Africa, speaking during the launch.

“Trust is at the heart of everything we do and with so much of our lives lived through our phone, we need to ensure our communication happens in a safe environment.”

Truecaller uses advanced spam algorithms, which allow the Truecaller global community of over 270 million active users to mark calls that are potentially spam/scam/sales calls, even if they have a verified badge and caller ID.

The State of E-mail Security Reportcompiled by security firm Mimecast found brand impersonation is on the increase in SA, with 78% of local companies expressing concerns about an attack that directly spoofs their e-mail domain, or other types of brand exploitation.

Apart from adding trust and reducing the possibility of fraud, the company says a verified business badge can help start-ups and businesses that are brand-conscious to increase their brand visibility.

The Truecaller Enterprise division has been set up with the intent of building solutions for businesses that will improve the efficiency of their communication, and provide value and safety to consumers in their day-to-day lives, according to the company.

“Truecaller is ready to scale the offering to a significant number of businesses globally, ensuring the ever-growing community of users can trust more calls coming from these businesses, making communication safer for everyone.

Our robust verification process helps consumers identify calls that can be 100% trusted to be initiated by a particular business. Over a period, this can result in drastic reduction of fraud and scams that happen over phone calls,” says Sony Joy, VP and head of Truecaller Enterprise.