Truecaller states that it has reached over 100-million active users.
In less than a year, the app has leapfrogged from 100-million monthly active users (MAUs) per month to 100-million daily active users (DAUs) and is still growing.
With more than 20% of its user base in Africa, Truecaller app service identifies more than half a billion calls monthly in the region, and 50% of SMS received are spam. In Kenya the application blocks and filters more than 12-million calls and 21,5-million spam SMSes per month.
From people predominantly using Nokia and BlackBerry phones to a wide array of Androids and Apples, technology is constantly evolving around us. The cost of mobile devices continues to plunge and consumers today are now spoilt for choice when it comes to deciding what smartphone to purchase.
In emerging markets, there is an increased importance placed on smartphones in peoples’ daily lives. It’s their primary gateway to the internet, their connection with family and friends, people abroad, and increasingly their main banking and finance tool.
Alan Mamedi, CEO and co-founder of Truecaller, says: “Close to a decade ago, we set out to solve what we thought was a simple problem – how do we figure out who these unknown numbers belong to that keeps calling us? Little did we know how big of a problem that actually was in all corners of the world.
“It was so big, in fact, that Truecaller is pleased and excited to announce that we now have more than 100 million daily active users using our app for their daily communication. There are only a handful of mobile-only services that impact as many users each and every day and we are humbled to be able to join this exclusive group,” says Mamedi.
From simple beginnings as a Caller ID and spam blocking app, to a fully-fledged communications platform with calling, SMS’, Flash Messages and payment services.
“We could never have predicted that Truecaller would become an indispensable resource for women’s safety in many countries; or that it would be used for e-commerce and courier services around the globe to facilitate the difficult last mile of delivery, or allow more people to experience a data-only product in offline mode,” says Mamedi. “Truecaller is more than just an app on your phone, it has aided in bridging the digital divide between the urban and growing semi-urban/rural markets in India; and has even enabled more African businesses to accept online payment.”