SMS payments explained

The global open rate for SMSs is at about 90%, which makes these types of payments an increasingly popular way of paying.

You might be familiar with charities sending you SMSs, which you then donate to.

But what is the case in the business landscape?

In this blog post, we take a look at SMS payments in-depth and answer some important questions.

What is an SMS payment?

An SMS payment, briefly explained, is when a customer makes a purchase for a certain product or service and makes a payment with it through an SMS that’s sent to their phone.

The mobile service provider deducts the relevant fees by adding them to the customer’s monthly bill, or debiting their prepaid mobile account.

Which industries are they suitable for?

Although not ideal for all industries, SMS payments are great for repeat purchases, items which are sold with a relatively low value, for food and beverages such as pizza and coffee as well as deliveries.

They’re also ideal for businesses whose revenue depends on recurring payments, or if merchants target a repeat customer base.

What are their advantages?

SMS payments are generally very quick, easy and safe to make.

For example, their security stems from the fact that no personal or account details are saved or stored. 

But that’s not all there is to them.

For the consumer, they won’t need to enter their card or bank details, or even have a bank account.

They also won’t need to remember passwords and login details.

What about merchants?

Merchants are exposed to the possibility of accepting payments from billions of mobile phones around the world, which are capable of texting.

Furthermore, there’s also the option to make sales to the unbanked population, representing a whole new segment of clients.

Merchants will also be able to build on customer loyalty by offering discounts and coupons through their SMS marketing campaigns.

Finally, all the billing is handled by the mobile phone operator, and it’s often quite affordable to set up.

Outgrowths of SMS payments

A branch of SMS payments includes the introduction of PayLinks and Payment Requests, which are payments sent to a customer through an SMS.

Although sharing these links and requests with customers can be done via a short text message, there are options to also send them via email or via social media channels such as Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Viber and others. 

Let’s take a look at these two payment types in more detail.

myPOS PayLinks

Want to send your customers an invoice or an offer on a new product all while getting paid without a website or online shop? It’s easy!

You can generate a myPOS PayLink and send it to your customers through a variety of channels. 

PayLinks can be sent multiple times to multiple customers at the same time.

myPOS Payment Request

The myPOS Payment Request is another value-added online payment functionality, which enables merchants to accept payments.

Simply create the Payment Request from your myPOS account, and send it via SMS or email.

These are one-time personalised Payment Requests, and you can also enjoy payment tracking and monitoring at the same time.

Conclusion

The use of SMSs as a payment method is likely to increase and grow in the future, with more and more businesses taking up this attractive payment offering.

If you’re not ready for SMS payments yet, opt for myPOS’ online payment solutions instead.

They’ll help you reach more customers while ensuring you don’t miss out on any sales.