Viber celebrates its decade-long journey

Rakuten Viber, popularly known as Viber, one of the world's leading apps for free and easy communication, is celebrating its 10-year-long journey of bringing a new kind of messaging platform to people across the globe.

According to a press release, Viber started in 2010 with the simple goal of offering an alternative medium of communication, providing free calls to international mobile phone users. Since then, it has evolved much, becoming a comprehensive communication platform that now offers a suite of features like messaging, group chats, audio and video calls, communities, and chatbots, keeping privacy as its core promise to its users.

Celebrating the milestone, Djamel Agaoua, CEO, Rakuten Viber, said, "It wouldn't have been possible without the hundreds of millions of people who trusted us for their 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 continuing to work hard for this critical mission," he added.

Viber became part of Rakuten Inc, a world leader in e-commerce and financial services, in 2014. 

Launching "communities" in 2018 was another milestone for the company, empowering admins to create supergroup chats to add an unlimited number of people. 

The year after, the group voice calls feature was launched. Now, 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 protecting user privacy.
                                                                                                                            
In 2020, 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. 

In November, the company also announced its plans to expand further into the fintech world, introducing its newest chatbot payments solution. 

In Bangladesh, Viber has worked with the ICT Division to bring a chatbot for Covid-19. Through the chatbot, users can do a self-assessment test for Covid-19. 

Viber has 1.5 core active users in Bangladesh, and this initiative is supporting the government to keep track of the data. 

To heighten the celebration of reaching a milestone of a decade, Viber has launched a campaign called, Wheel of Fortune. Under it, users will be able to win various gifts like coupons for restaurants and shops across Bangladesh – Tk200 discount coupon for Dhakaiya Pakki, 15% deal for The Westin Dhaka, Tk96 discount for Burger King, 10% deal on Al Amar, and 20% discount for Shoishob Bangladesh. On top of it, users will also get a chance to win a sticker pack.