Tengrinews.kz – Pavel Durov, the founder of the popular messaging app Telegram, has introduced a new method of phone number verification called Telegram Gateway.
In a post on his Telegram channel, Durov shared details about the innovation.
"Telegram has launched the most affordable way for businesses to authenticate their customers’ phone numbers — just $0.01 per code, anywhere in the world," Durov stated.
He explained that businesses can now save millions by sending verification codes directly to their users via Telegram.
"This method is much cheaper, faster, and more secure than traditional SMS verification. We call it Telegram Gateway," Durov added.
He also noted that phone number verification is a multibillion-dollar industry, with Telegram alone spending about $10 million per month to verify all users who sign up and log into the service.
"We’ve made this investment so that others won’t have to. Since we’ve already verified the phone numbers of nearly a billion people, other businesses can avoid high verification costs. And if the phone number they want to verify is not connected to a Telegram account, we won’t charge at all," he said.
Durov described the pricing as "unprecedentedly low," adding that he is unsure whether Telegram Gateway will become a significant source of revenue. Nonetheless, he hopes the initiative will make the world "more efficient," lowering costs for many services.
Earlier, we reported that Telegram will open an office in Kazakhstan. Read the details in the article.
Did Telegram provide data on Kazakhstani citizens “upon request“
Recall that Durov previously announced several updates for the messenger. Before that, he mentioned that gifts had been added to Telegram.
