{"id":608242,"date":"2023-02-15T07:49:30","date_gmt":"2023-02-15T13:49:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.sellorbuyhomefast.com\/index.php\/2023\/02\/15\/this-uk-startup-has-come-up-with-a-unique-way-to-verify-small-businesses-on-whatsapp\/"},"modified":"2023-02-15T07:49:30","modified_gmt":"2023-02-15T13:49:30","slug":"this-uk-startup-has-come-up-with-a-unique-way-to-verify-small-businesses-on-whatsapp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2023\/02\/15\/this-uk-startup-has-come-up-with-a-unique-way-to-verify-small-businesses-on-whatsapp\/","title":{"rendered":"This UK startup has come up with a unique way to verify small businesses on WhatsApp"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

It would appear that OpenAI\u2019s Chat GPT allying with Bing will not going to be the only threat to Google\u2019s search business model in the future. With its release of WhatsApp Business app (WAB), Meta are effectively building a sort of rival search engine to Google to keep us all inside the app. While this may not trouble US businesses too much \u2013 where iMessage retains the lion-share of messaging habits \u2013 in Europe and large swathes of the \u2018rest of the world\u2019 WhatsApp has supplanted many other kinds of messaging because of its efficient use of data over even the thinnest of mobile networks.<\/p>\n

For instance, the UK\u00a0has the third most WhatsApp users<\/a> in Europe with 40.41 million, and it\u2019s the most used chat app in the UK. Around 75 percent of 16 to 64-year-olds use it.<\/p>\n

In November last year, Mark Zuckerberg launched the WhatsApp\u00a0Business Directory feature. This laid out its future<\/a>, with In-App Purchases and WhatsApp Business Pages. These are, to all intents and purposes, mini websites, after a fashion. That spells a problem for Google.<\/p>\n

So what are the implications? Put simply, if\u00a0businesses increasingly find they need to also have a \u201cshop window\u201d inside WhatsApp \u2013 and assuming they are not so sophisticated as to know how to use the API they will need a new phone number. And it\u2019s fair to say most people prefer messaging to calling when interacting with businesses.<\/p>\n

This would then be used to create a unique ID for the WhatsApp Business app. At this point, many small businesses often face a dilemma: they realize they require a second number (most of the time on another handset). This means they have to choose a second number via a website, a second number via an app, getting a second number via a mobile telco, or a dual SIM \/ Esim, which can be expensive and a hassle.<\/p>\n

This is when all they really need is that Unique ID enabling them to use WAB on their own phone. Realising all small business wanted was to address this pain point, this is what UK startup YourBusinessNumber<\/a> set out to do in 2021. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s developed it own unique \u2013 it claims \u2013 internal tools to make sure that UID is verified by WhatsApp Business and that the connection is made between a small business owner\u2019s personal number and its new WAB number (the cost is a low \u00a34.99 per month). In this way, the small business person can still run their business from their own phone, without having to give out their personal number. <\/p>\n

YourBusinessNumber strips out data, minutes, texts and use of apps or VOIP, offering just the UID. It does this by accessing the cheapest mobile\/cell numbers available in each market with the thinnest of telco offerings. It also breaks the connection to WhatsApp if the business lapses in payment or breaks WhatsApp\u2019s terms and conditions, thereby slowing down spammers and non-payers. It\u2019s now launched a Google Play Store App to facilitate the service.<\/p>\n

While networks might charge \u00a325-100 per month for traditional commercial contracts, \u00a0YourBusinessNumber\u2019s far lower fees would appear to give it a competitive advantage. <\/p>\n

The platform allows businesses to receive OTP \/ SMS and Calls as well offering a Team solution so that employees can also attend to WAB messages without needing to reveal their phone number. Growing areas for YBN include Estate Agents, Recruitment and Hospitality industries.<\/p>\n

Co-founder George Linbeker said on a statement: \u201cWe are the fastest, easiest, priced solution in the market \u2013 growing at 30% MoM.\u00a0We are live in the UK and USA and have big global plans to solve this problem for others.\u201d<\/p>\n

Founders\u00a0Lineker and Sebastian Lewis have so far raised seed funding for the startup which is now selling into 50+ countries including the US, and is planning to move into Brazil, India, the Philippines, and Germany. The startup launched in June 2021, recently raising \u00a3450,000, taking its total raise to almost a \u00a31m. Seed investors\u00a0include Edward Woodward (Ex Man UTD) and England football legend Gary Lineker (father of George).<\/p>\n

Over a call, Lewis told me: \u201cWe spent a lot of time and money developing an internal system that checks whether the customer is verified. That\u2019s our unique IP, and we are banking on the fact that we\u2019re going to get the most people verified on WhatsApp business, versus somebody just going out in the street buying a phone number and trying to do it on their own.\u201d<\/p>\n

Given that YourBusinessNumber has little to stop its growth, it\u2019s yet another indication that WhatsApp is posied to create a plethora of other services (when will a ChatGPT-like service turn up I wonder?) that is leaving Google with yet another potentially large headache. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Read More<\/a>
\n Mike Butcher<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It would appear that OpenAI\u2019s Chat GPT allying with Bing will not going to be the only threat to Google\u2019s search business model in the future. With its release of WhatsApp Business app (WAB), Meta are effectively building a sort of rival search engine to Google to keep us all inside the app. While this<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":608243,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[334,46,22397],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-608242","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-startup","8":"category-technology","9":"category-unique"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/608242","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=608242"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/608242\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/608243"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=608242"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=608242"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=608242"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}