Truecaller to open up TrueSDK for third party app authentication

NEW DELHI: As more and more apps move to relying on a social network or email registered identity, calling app Truecaller will on Thursday launch a platform which will third party apps to use Truecaller-registered profile as an authentication mechanism.

“TrueSDK is a product we have launched currently on the Android (OS), which is the biggest ecosystem which is a one-touch verified phone number based user registration sign-up solution which can be used in various third party apps,” Priyam Bose, director of worldwide developer relations, Truecaller, told ET.

For example if a user is trying to start using the mobile wallet app MobiKwik, they will see Truecaller as an option as a sign-up button. With TrueSDK, once the user clicks the button and gives their consent, they are signed up on the app.

“So, the user bypasses the entire process of OTP (one time password), where you have to first give your number and then wait for the code to come in which may have challenges because the network is unpredictable,” said Bose.

Opening up the platform in February for developers, Truecaller had said the “service can be used by developers to offer sign up, update a user’s information, or purely verify the user’s phone number based identity in their mobile apps through user consent”.

Until that time Quikr, Mobikwik, redBus, CarDekho, BharatMatrimony.com, ixigo, OYO Rooms, TO THE NEW Digital, FreshMenu, Terraa, Cash Care and ShopClues were among the ones using the TrueSDK platform for new sign ups and verification.

Bose said India has over 130 million users with a Truecaller profile and a verified phone number. Of the partners that the company has worked with in the last few months, about one-third of user sign-ups have come through TrueSDK, instead of the more conventional platforms Facebook or Google+, he added.

“A lot of app-led businesses are transitioning away from offering a digital Email-ID- based sign-up process,” said Bose.

The idea is to use the phone number as the primary identity of the user, with the mobile increasingly becoming the way most people in developing markets ar coming online.

“We’ve seen the conversion rate of successful sign ups go up by 25% post Truecaller integration. So, that is a very-very important statistic. That conversion rate of user on-boarding has gone up by 25% which is quite significant,” added Bose.