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Did you know that Facebook are closing down their Account Kit service? If your business has an app and uses verification services for securing log in via 2FA or verifying new downloads / signups, this news could well affect how you manage accounts for the remainder of 2019 and into 2020 – so take note!
Many businesses use Account Kit to secure log in via 2FA or to verify new app registrations via One Time Passcodes (OTPs) sent over SMS – it’s a quick and easy way to validate users and help keep fraudsters at bay.
Facebook will close Account Kit down in phases to give developers plenty of time to set up alternative verification solutions. Here’s the timeline:
- September 9th 2019 – No new apps will be able to integrate Account Kit, existing integrations will continue to work as usual
- December 9th 2019 – The daily SMS limit will be reduced to 1,000 messages per app ID per day. All other channels (including WhatsApp) will continue to work as usual
- March 9th 2020 – Account Kit will no longer be available
- June 2020 – Developers will have until June 2020 to retrieve any data or information from the Facebook platform unless they initiate shut down beforehand, in which case they will get 30 days from shut down to retrieve information / data before it’s deleted from the system
Long story short, if your business has an app, and you’re using Account Kit to secure log in, or verify new customers, you’re going to need to find an alternative solution. Not to worry though, our suite of Verification products exposes APIs to solve exactly the same problem, so can be dropped in as a direct replacement for Account Kit to help keep your communities secure.
If you have any questions or would like to know more about how Sinch can help you verify phone numbers using OTP codes over SMS, take a look at our Verification product pages, check out our Developer Documentation Pages, or sign up here to get started now! You can also get a quick visual preview of each of Sinch's verification capabilities here: SMS Verification, Voice Verification, and Flash Call Verification.
