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How to Accept Mobile Payments via SMS
Streamline payments and improve customer satisfaction with this quick, secure payment method.
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Did you know your customers can pay via text message? This payment method, known as Text to Pay or “Short Message Service” (SMS) mobile payment, offers an easy, contactless and secure way for customers to pay bills from their mobile device. Below, we cover what you need to know about Text to Pay, how to offer it and why it might benefit your business.
How to use Text to Pay for your business
You can begin accepting text message payments by following these steps.
- Find a Text to Pay payment provider: Text to Pay requires secure, Payment Card Industry (PCI)-compliant processing from a third-party service provier. If you currently use a service for credit card processing, it’s likely they support SMS payment processing as well.
- Select a plan: After you choose a Text to Pay provider, work with the company to select the appropriate plan based on your anticipated SMS volu`me.
- Set up billing and services: Next, you’ll set up billing with the company and create your account. Depending on your provider, you may also need a third-party merchant account.
- Set up your customer contact processes: The provider will typically give you the choice of using your current business phone number or a virtual SMS number to receive payments. Once you select a number, you can connect your customer contact list and create basic text messages to send to collect payments.
How does Text to Pay work?
The Text to Pay process varies from provider to provider, but generally includes the following steps.
- Get permission to send the customer texts: Text to Pay processes must comply with Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) requirements, which requires your customers to opt-in to receive text messages from your company before you can bill them via SMS messaging.
- Send the customer a payment link: Your business will send a link to the customer through your Text to Pay provider’s platform to complete a transaction. This may also be initiated when a customer texts your business a short code or scans a QR code.
- Direct the customer to your payment page: When a customer clicks the link, they are directed to a secure, mobile-friendly payment page.
- Request the customer’s payment information: The customer inputs payment information or authorizes your company to use a payment method already on file. Usually, they can save the payment method for future payments.
- Secure confirmation (if applicable): Sometimes, the Text to Pay provider will send the customer a unique code or an additional text confirming the intent to buy before finalizing the purchase.
Once this process is complete, the payment is processed and the Text to Pay provider sends the money to your account, minus any fees.
Text to Pay best practices
These best practices can improve your customers’ Text to Pay experience and help your business drive more sales using the payment method.
- Initiate Text to Pay promptly: Initiate SMS payments immediately at the time of the sale. If you’re selling a service, invoice immediately via SMS and get paid while you’re with the customer.
- Use SMS to follow up on missed payments: Use text messaging to follow up about past-due payments. Texts are harder to ignore or miss than other kinds of communication and reminds customers about their balance on the same device they’ll use to pay.
- Add SMS payment options to marketing texts: Text to Pay can boost sales if your company already uses text message marketing. If a customer expresses interest in a product or service via text, you can immediately bill them on the same platform.
“Ideally, the platform will seamlessly integrate with a business’s existing point-of-sale (POS) system, invoicing software or customer relationship management (CRM) platform,” said Austin Mac Nab, CEO and founder of VizyPay. “[It should] also allow businesses to input payment amounts and customer details that are sent in customized receipts, invoices and payment reminders via text in a secure link.”
What to consider when choosing a Text to Pay provider
Consider the following when searching for the right Text to Pay provider for your business.
- Ease of use: Before signing up with a Text to Pay provider, test their software to make sure it is intuitive. You should be able to set up your message content, replies and other settings quickly and easily.
- Transaction simplicity: Look for a solution that considers your customers’ convenience at every turn. For example, allowing your customers to save their payment information for future use is more convenient for them and increases sales.
- Backup communication options: The best SMS payment platforms provide backup methods, such as a phone number or email address, in case the payment doesn’t go through.
- Two-way messaging support: Two-way SMS allows you to set up automated SMS replies triggered by specific keywords to provide more information or give customers the option to speak to an agent.
- Reliable message delivery: High-quality carrier connections ensure your SMS messages get through and aren’t caught by telecom company filters.
- Dedicated business number: Your business should get a unique phone number, not a shared or random number. A dedicated business phone number improves deliverability and assures customers they’re not being targeted by a phishing attempt.
- Lump-sum deposits: Most businesses prefer lump-sum deposits, which make it easier to reconcile their books.
- Robust security: Look for PCI Level 1 compliance and tokenized transactions when choosing a Text to Pay provider.
“[Your Text to Pay provider should] integrate with POS systems and inventory level management systems, export to QuickBooks, be user-friendly and allow owners to adjust prices seamlessly when needed,” Mac Nab said.
Amanda Hoffman contributed to this article.
