Facebook will waive fees for Account Kit SMS confirmation messages through August 2018

Facebook is announcing today that it will delay charging broad-based fees for SMS messages that confirm people’s identities when they sign in with the Account Kit technology introduced earlier this year.

For the past few months, Facebook has provided the service — which is available alongside the longstanding Facebook Login — for free, as long as third-party developers’ applications don’t send more than 100,000 SMS messages each month, a Facebook spokesperson told VentureBeat in an email. When apps pass that limit, Facebook works with app developers to establish a rate on a case-by-case basis.

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Now Facebook has decided to not charge for SMS messages through August 2018, Facebook software engineer Calvin Mak wrote in a blog post. From that point onward, SMS rates “may apply” when apps go beyond the aforementioned 100,000 message limit.

But mobile apps made by people participating in the FbStart program will never be charged for SMS messages, according to the post.

Without question, there are other login systems available to developers — Google, Microsoft, and Twitter, among others, offer login tools. Account Kit seeks to provide a convenient login experience without requiring people to have Facebook accounts.

Since launch, developers in 26 countries have adopted Account Kit, leading to conversion rates of up to 90 percent, Mak wrote. And the tool could become even easier to use in the future.

“We are also building features to rely less heavily on SMS as a confirmation mechanism to offer a better consumer experience and help lead to higher conversion rates,” Mak wrote.

Newly revised documentation for Account Kit is here.