Is your organization fully leveraging omnichannel payments to power your digital transformation? In today’s fast-evolving markets, customers everywhere are increasingly gravitating toward digital payment options across a variety of channels. This shift in preference highlights a growing expectation for flexibility and convenience. By providing your customers with the ability to choose how and where they make their payments, you can significantly enhance their satisfaction. In turn, this strategic move will be vital in differentiating your business from the competition - positioning you as a leader in customer-centric innovation.
A key digital channel that we’ll explore here is SMS payments. Your customers are highly engaged on their mobile phones, which makes SMS a perfect channel for payment requests. With an average open rate of nearly 99%, and 97% of messages being read within 15 minutes of delivery, SMS is a simple, familiar, and user-friendly channel that your customers are already active on and comfortable with.
Two main ways that organizations are currently using SMS for payments is through agent-based interactions or via 'agentless' automated processes:
- Agent-based interactions: In this scenario, a customer service representative or contact center agent initiates the payment process by sending a secure payment link via SMS during a live interaction. For example, while assisting a customer over the phone or through a chat service, the agent can instantly send an SMS payment link to complete a purchase, pay a bill, or settle an outstanding balance. This method is particularly useful for real-time support scenarios, such as resolving payment issues or processing orders on the spot - providing a personal touch while ensuring quick transactions.
- Agentless automated processes: This approach leverages automated systems to send SMS payment requests without any direct human intervention. After a customer places an order online or subscribes to a service, an automated system can send a payment link via SMS as part of the checkout process. This could also be used for recurring payments, where customers receive a monthly SMS reminder with a payment link. Automated SMS payments are ideal for businesses looking to streamline payment collections, reduce manual effort, and ensure consistent, timely reminders for customers.
Let’s explore some more of the benefits that your organization can experience from offering SMS payment solutions:
- Better CX
Businesses that want to deliver smoother engagement and a streamlined payment journey need to make it easy for customers to get in contact and complete payments using their preferred methods of communication. Research from Google shows that 98% of Americans switch between an average of almost six devices in the same day. By offering omnichannel payments through various channels such as SMS, chat, social media, and more, you are meeting them in the channels they prefer and simplifying the customer payment journey to make the process as frictionless as possible. - Enhanced Security
In addition to speed and convenience, customers expect their sensitive payment information to be safe and protected. Security is now a top concern for customers, thanks to the increased awareness of cyber security threats and the growing issue of identity theft. By implementing secure payment links, organizations can build trust in their brand and demonstrate their commitment to keeping customers and their sensitive personal data safe.
Implementing secure payment links via SMS not only enhances convenience for your customers but also offers a significant advantage to your organization by allowing it to be de-scoped from the rigorous requirements of PCI DSS compliance. When you provide PCI DSS compliant payment options through SMS and other digital channels, you are taking crucial steps to safeguard your customers' sensitive payment information, thereby building trust and confidence in your brand. Moreover, this approach protects your organization from the risk of incurring costly non-compliance fees or fines, which can be financially burdensome and damage your reputation. By prioritizing secure, compliant payment solutions, your organization is investing in both the security of your customers and the long-term stability and success of your business.
- Improved Productivity
By configuring an SMS payment integration, both your customers and your agents can reap the benefits of increased operational productivity. Your customers can make digital payments conveniently with the click of a button within a text message, without ever having to switch to a different application – creating seamless and convenient payment experiences and reducing friction.
If your customers encounter a payment-related question or issue during the payment process, they can easily communicate with your agents within the digital conversation. This seamless interaction not only enables quicker response times but also facilitates efficient issue resolution, leading to improved first contact resolution (FCR) rates and reduced average handling times (AHT). Ultimately, this approach enhances the overall customer support experience, ensuring that issues are resolved swiftly and effectively.
Further, with status updates in real time, customers can also receive immediate payment notifications and receipts within the digital conversation. Even after the SMS transaction is complete, your organization is able to view and analyze valuable data and insights on SMS payment behavior to identify trends, optimize payment processes, and make informed business decisions.
- Increased Sales
It’s clear that reducing friction in the payment journey by switching on SMS payments can have a positive domino effect on your organization. It increases productivity in your agents and your operations, improves the customer experience, and boosts your bottom line. Research suggests that the sales opportunity from SMS payments in the years to come is massive: the global mobile payments market size is valued at more than $94 billion USD in 2024, and is expected to reach nearly $409 billion USD by 2029.
Removing the need for customers to navigate to a separate payment channel results in reduced drop-offs in the payment journey, leading to higher conversion rates and increased sales – making SMS a far more effective and real time channel compared to others!
SMS payments can seamlessly integrate into your omnichannel payments strategy, regardless of your industry. Here are a few examples of how SMS payments have benefited merchants across different sectors:
- Retail
Retailers who switch on a secure SMS payment solution reduce the amount of time spent processing bills, reduce the risk of fraud, and increase customer loyalty, trust, and overall satisfaction - Healthcare
Hospitals, doctor’s offices, and other medical institutions can benefit from pay by link via SMS to simplify and streamline patient billing, which helps to minimize administrative overhead and boost cash flow - Hotels
Hospitality businesses can use SMS payment links to streamline both the check-in and check-out processes, as well as provide a fast and convenient way for guests to pay for upgrades and incidentals - eCommerce
If you’re in eCommerce, you are likely already using SMS to reach your customers through marketing campaigns. Online retailers can also take advantage of mobile commerce by making use of SMS embedded payments to allow customers to complete purchases and carry out payments via text messages
Give your customers the power of choice with secure SMS payments.
Your customers are increasingly expecting quicker, more seamless online transactions in their preferred channels – and it’s clear that SMS is at the top of that list. With Sycurio.Digital, your brand can empower customers with more choice and flexibility in omnichannel payments without sacrificing payment security in where and how they make purchases.
Sycurio.Digital payment links for SMS can be deployed within hours, via our robust API or by using our plug-and-play payment link generator. You can choose to automate, embed, or paste the payment link into your digital conversation. When a customer begins the payment journey while interacting with one of your agents via SMS, they’ll be presented with a payment link directly in the digital conversation. The customer then follows the link to your Sycurio payment capture page and enters their payment details. Sycurio then confirms the transaction has been completed and sends the confirmations. Even if the customer is engaging with your brand in another channel, if they prefer to complete their payment via SMS link, they can do so easily and seamlessly!
Our secure payment links enable your customers to complete transactions directly in SMS using the payment methods of their choice: credit or debit cards; instant bank-to-bank transfers; tokenization services; and digital payment wallet options such as Apple Pay, Google Pay, and PayPal. When you put them together, the convenience of SMS combined with the growing customer preference for digital wallets presents a significant opportunity for businesses to streamline contact center payments. Research further strengthens this position, with the total value of digital wallet transactions predicted to reach $16 trillion in 2028!
Mobile payments are predicted to make up 79% of all digital transactions by 2025. Don’t get left behind – switch on secure SMS payments today!
