Mobile Connect May Soon Give Facebook Login Something to Worry About

GSMA

Sometimes it's interesting to compare wildly different business empires who employ similar business strategies, in this case, Facebook and Coca-Cola. During the great depression, cinemas started closing down, so they began to rethink their approach to profit, placing concession stands at front and centre. Since salty and sweet foods were already commonplace at cinemas by this time, Coke started encouraging cinemas to stock their products as well, and now, nearly a century later, Coke in cinemas is so commonplace that nobody questions it.

As the internet has evolved, websites requiring registration became more and more common, but registering used to be laborious, and less than trustworthy. Around this time, Facebook figured out that it was in their best interest to offer business a 'login gateway' tool which would allow users to sign up for online accounts using the credentials on their Facebook accounts, and then login at the push of a button. Now, Facebook Login is so commonplace that nobody questions it.

Being the first brand to get your name on what eventually becomes an invaluable resource is a hugely beneficial business strategy for those who are quick enough to read the signs, but even if you are the first ones to implement a good idea, there's always a danger that someone will find a way to take your idea and expand it into something better. In Facebook's case, that somebody could well be the minds behind Mobile Connect.

Services in India have began chirping about it this month, including companies as influential at Vodafone and Idea. With Mobile Connect, you don't need a Facebook account, or any kind of online details, you just need a phone number. That might sound flimsy, but the mobile carrier has to verify your identity each time you log in with it, so you have to be using your phone. If you do it on a computer, you receive an authentication code which you then have to use.

Simplicity is certainly guaranteed there, and it means that someone trying to access your accounts even from your computer won't be able to get in, as they would with Facebook Login. If someone actually has your phone, however, that's another matter. Mobile Connect accounts for this too, though, as in the launch nation of India it's compatible with AadHaar, their national biometric system.

One assumes that as the service spreads to other countries, biometrics will also be integrated, meaning that even if someone does have your phone, they won't be able to get on to any of your accounts. With every growing concerns about account security, this could end up being the next big thing.

The other concern people often have with Facebook Login is that they don't like sharing their Facebook info with third parties. Even they're only using it for login security, people keep a lot of information on Facebook and they have no way of actually knowing how much gets used, beyond what they're told. With Mobile Connect, it's just their phone number, they don't need access to anything else.

Facebook have never been ones to shy away from a challenge, but it depends on how much value they actually stake in Facebook Login. They might be content to let it die off, rather than wasting money and time fighting back against something which is more convenient. Equally though, if Mobile Connect can't gain ground fast enough, it might never break out of the Asian quadrant of the market it currently resides in.

Callum Davies

Callum is a film school graduate who is now making a name for himself as a journalist and content writer. His vices include flat whites and 90s hip-hop. Follow him @Songbird_Callum

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