SAN FRANCISCO, USA – Viber, one of the world’s leading apps for free and easy communication, rings in 10 years of bringing a new kind of messaging platform to people across the globe, one that values its users’ privacy just as it values mobile technology. To mark a decade of lifetime connections, Viber tops off its celebration by giving back to the users who made it all possible, offering millions of gifts inside its Wheel of Fortune chatbot.
Filipino Viber users who spin the Wheel of Fortune will get the chance to win 10% off discount from Lazada, 1GB mobile data from Globe Telecom, one-month subscription of iWantTFC, rewards from Share Treats, and a slot to their favorite music artist’s virtual hangout courtesy of MCA Music.
Apart from launching the Wheel of Fortune, Viber earlier released Heroes of Viber, a mini-video series that brought its users to the spotlight by featuring 14 unique stories of how the app impacted people’s lives around the world. Among the featured Viber heroes are Filipino superadmins KG Sison and Celina Payawal, whose Communities became two of the most popular ones during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Viber started out in 2010 with the simple goal of providing free calls to international mobile users. It has evolved much since then, disrupting the industry and becoming a comprehensive communication platform that now offers a suite of features like messaging, group chats, audio & video calls, communities, and chatbots, all while keeping privacy as its core promise to its users. It was in 2014 when Viber became part of Rakuten Inc., a world leader in e-commerce and financial services.
Launching Communities in 2018 was also a massive milestone for the company, empowering admins to create supergroup chats where they can add an unlimited number of people. True enough, it became one of the most popular features during quarantine. It’s also in 2020 that Viber introduced a few features that proved to be essential during the pandemic such as group video calls, and bolstered its capacities, doubling the maximum number of participants to 20 people at once in Group Video and Audio Calls.
The messaging giant has also forged crucial partnerships to help its users navigate through these challenging times. For instance, Filipino users can now get the latest COVID-19 updates straight from the country’s Department of Health (DOH) through a Viber Community. This partnership further expanded to the creation of KIRA Kontra COVID chatbot that Filipinos can launch to check for symptoms and to get the must-know information about the coronavirus. It’s also taking part in the Ingat Angat initiative, a multi-sector effort to revive the Philippine economy in the safest way possible.
In November, the company also announced its future plans to expand further into the fintech world, introducing its newest chatbot payments solution. Viber is well on its way toward becoming an all-encompassing communication platform expanding into utilities and fintech, while never relenting on its commitment to protect user privacy.
“Viber’s journey over the last 10 years wouldn’t have been possible without the hundreds of millions of people who trusted us with their personal communication, and with them we have grown into what we are today. At Viber, our promise to our users has always been to provide a free and secure way for them to stay connected with their world. As technologies continue to take a bigger part of our lives, data privacy and security of communication becomes increasingly important. Viber employees are committed to continue working hard for this critical mission. For most of you, they are anonymous. But trust me when I say they are the best team one can ask for,” says Djamel Agaoua, CEO at Rakuten Viber.
“It all started with a very simple mission to help people communicate with their loved ones,” says Anna Znamenskaya, Chief Growth Officer at Rakuten Viber. “Now that the world is changing at an exponential rate, so too are the means through which we communicate. Viber aims to always stay ahead of the curve for its users, as we always have.”
Celebrate a decade of Viber and spin the Wheel of Fortune now!
