Chat commerce and business messaging firm Clickatell has launched its Chat 2 Pay feature for integrated communications company Telkom to unlock the convenience of safe and effortless mobile payments.

The deployed Chat 2 Pay pay-by-link capability in WhatsApp, in response to growing demand for fast, digital, self-help services, enables Telkom post-paid and prepaid customers to easily and safely pay their phone bills and xDSL/fibre bills, and buy airtime, data and SMS bundles in WhatsApp.

According to the parties, in a joint statement released on Thursday, Telkom’s current chatbot offers customers mobile support by accessing their accounts and billing information, and allows them to view sales deals, check for mobile or fibre upgrades, do cancellations and make directory inquiries, besides others.

With the addition of Chat 2 Pay, customers will benefit from a convenient and personalised service to pay bills and value-added service (VAS) top-ups through Mastercard and Visa debit and credit cards.

“User behaviour has shifted, and organisations are relying more and more on digital channels for revenue generation. But, asking customers to make payments through a different channel creates a break in the customer journey and challenges companies to convert sales,” says Clickatell senior VP enterprise sales and growth markets Werner Lindemann.

Payments in chat provide telecommunications firms the tools required to assist their customers complete payments simply and safely in the channel they already know and trust, significantly boosting customer experience and revenue.

With Chat 2 Pay, the payment process is exceptionally simple, with Telkom customers able to transact by simply making a menu selection to trigger a payment request, after which, a link is sent to the customer in a WhatsApp message. When they click on the link, they access a fully hosted checkout page.

The customer then can securely enter payment details and submit, receiving a confirmation of the payment and receipt in a chat message.

“Telkom continues to look at ways to advance our customers’ digital experiences, and our digital channels are core for future delivery,” said Telkom CMO Gugu Mthembu.

“Chat 2 Pay helps us optimise our payment channels and payment collection. What’s more, the ease, and availability, of VAS services is expected to further boost revenue opportunities.”

“With 93% of conversations transpiring on Clickatell’s Chat Commerce Platform and ending in a transaction, chat commerce, including Chat 2 Pay, is especially relevant for telecommunications firms that are looking for new revenue channels and better efficiencies,” concludes Lindemann.