Vonage, a global leader in cloud communications helping businesses accelerate their digital transformation, has been selected by Singapore-based online marketplace Carousell to safeguard its platform against fraud and enhance the speed and efficiency of customer notifications.

Carousell, a leading consumer-to-consumer and business-to-consumer marketplace for buying and selling of new and second-hand goods, 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.

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Carousell is also using the Vonage SMS API to communicate with sellers and buyers, sending instant alerts whenever there are incoming inquiries and updates on their listings or interested items.Victor Neo, Director of Engineering at Carousell, said, “We strive to create a trusted and secure marketplace where ‘Carousellers’ need not worry about purchasing counterfeits or falling prey to scams while protecting brands simultaneously.

“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. There was also an increase in attempts to sign up for multiple accounts. This made us hesitant to expand into new markets. 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.

ACI Worldwide Research reported that global e-commerce retail sales had achieved 209 percent year-over-year revenue growth in April 2020.¹ With the sharp increase in e-commerce sales, the threat of fraud also rises. According to a study by Worldpay, the most common types of e-commerce fraud are identity theft (71 percent), phishing (66 percent), and account theft (63 percent).

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“Fraud is a growing concern worldwide, so verifying users has become critical to protecting businesses’ reputation and customers. Vonage’s Verify API not only gives customers the ability to authenticate end-users through their preferred channel but also to customize the failover workflow process without coding or development,” said Sunny Rao, Vonage Senior Vice President and General Manager for the Asia Pacific region. “Vonage’s SMS API allows businesses to communicate effectively with customers without hassle. Together, 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. Vonage APIs allow developers to easily enhance and build innovative customer experiences directly into their existing applications and devices. Through its partners, Vonage’s platform is at the centre of many notable transformational projects in the region, and a de facto for startups.