Singapore-based online marketplace Carousell chose Vonage to safeguard its platform against fraud and enhance the speed and efficiency of customer notifications.
Carousell is using Vonage’s Verify API to implement two-factor authentication (2FA) to validate accounts. Using just a phone number, Vonage generates pin codes and employs SMS and voice channels to authenticate new and existing customers throughout Southeast Asia, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand and Canada.
Also, Carousell is using the Vonage SMS API to communicate with sellers and buyers, sending instant alerts whenever there are incoming enquiries and updates on their listings or interested items.
“We previously noticed a rise in fraudulent accounts, and these accounts were able to overcome email verifications easily, despite processes in place to block common spam email services,” said Victor Neo, director of engineering at Carousell.
“There was also an increase in attempts to sign up for multiple accounts,” said Neo. Vonage’s solutions not only help us shield against the threat of rising spam accounts and fake users, but also increase the reliability of the platform, enabling us to send notifications fast and effectively. We are now confident of launching into new markets with Vonage.”
In addition to Singapore, the company has offices in Malaysia, Indonesia, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Myanmar, Vietnam, and the Philippines. With more than 250 million listings, it is one of the world’s largest and fastest-growing marketplaces in Southeast Asia, Taiwan and Hong Kong.
According to a study by Worldpay, the most common types of e-commerce fraud are identity theft (71%), phishing (66%) and account theft (63%).
“Vonage’s Verify API not only gives customers the ability to authenticate end-users through their preferred channel, but also to customise the failover workflow process without coding or development,” said Sunny Rao, Vonage SVP and general manager for the Asia-Pacific region.
“Vonage’s SMS API allows businesses to communicate effectively with customers without hassle,” said Rao. “åTogether, these solutions place total control in the hands of customers, ensuring instant global reach and improved customer acquisition minus the complexity.”
The Vonage Communications Platform has more than one million registered developers and offers a full suite of programmable voice, video, messaging, and email services to forward-thinking businesses throughout the Asia-Pacific market and worldwide.
