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Tag: Clickatell

  • Clickatell Celebrates 25 Years as it Enters the Age of Agentic Commerce

    Clickatell Celebrates 25 Years as it Enters the Age of Agentic Commerce

    …From an SMS pioneer to a globally trusted AI-powered chat commerce innovator

    Clickatell, a pioneer in mobile messaging and global leader in chat commerce, is celebrating its 25th anniversary, marking a quarter-century of transforming how brands interact and transact with their customers.

    Founded in Cape Town, South Africa, in 2000, Clickatell made history as the first company to connect businesses on the internet with consumers on mobile phones via SMS, using just four lines of code. Today, it powers AI-driven chat commerce experiences for leading enterprises across banking, retail, travel, telecoms, healthcare and more, trusted by global brands including Fiserv, Ria, Discovery, Absa, Tymebank, Standard bank, FlySafair, Clientèle, Pick n Pay, Massmart (Walmart), MTN, Telkom, Toyota, Europcar, and thousands of additional businesses across the US, Europe, and the Global South markets.

    Over 25 years, Clickatell has continued to innovate and introduced a series of industry firsts, including the world’s first tokenized payments in WhatsApp; KYC-compliant chat banking; best-in-class conversational commerce utility use cases; and the launch of Chat-2-Pay in partnership with Visa. Its award-winning, enterprise-grade AI-powered Chat Commerce Platform enables leading consumer brands to interact and transact with customers in the same chat interface they use every day to run their lives.

    “From day one, our mission has been to give people back their time,” said Pieter de Villiers, Co-Founder and CEO of Clickatell. “As we celebrate 25 years, we’re proud to continue helping enterprises deliver on this mission by creating trusted, meaningful, and convenient customer experiences in chat. We don’t believe any brand wants to place customers on hold and with Clickatell’s AI-powered Chat Commerce Platform, they don’t have to. A ‘no hold, no app, no friction’ customer-first experience is possible as we enter the age of agentic commerce.”

    In addition, Clickatell remains deeply committed to social impact in South Africa, where it was founded and where a large portion of its workforce is based. Through initiatives such as Endeavor SA, SiMODiSA, and The Collective X, the company supports entrepreneurship, equips youth with vital digital skills, and creates pathways for inclusive economic growth.

    Looking ahead, Clickatell sees the evolution of its AI-powered Chat Commerce Platform into an agentic commerce layer within organizations, where every customer interaction can lead to a secure transaction, underpinned by convenient, effortless customer experiences.

  • Clickatell Achieves Record Growth of its Chat Commerce Platform

    Clickatell Achieves Record Growth of its Chat Commerce Platform

    …Chat Commerce Platform Enhancements Include New Generative AI, Analytics and Broadcast Messaging Capabilities

    Clickatell, a pioneer in mobile messaging and Chat Commerce innovation, today announced significant momentum in 2024, driven by surging demand for its Chat Commerce platform. Clickatell’s AI-enabled Chat Commerce Platform meets a growing need among businesses to provide seamless, real-time support and transaction capabilities to their customers through popular chat apps such as WhatsApp and Apple Business Messenger. By allowing consumers to complete tasks such as boarding a flight, paying a friend, filing a claim, or accessing customer support without having to update their provider’s app or switching between websites and call centers, Clickatell addresses the challenges of fragmented customer journeys and high service costs.

    Performance Highlights:

    • 224% Growth Rate in Chat Commerce: Clickatell’s AI-enabled Chat Commerce Platform saw an impressive 224% year-over-year growth rate, solidifying its position as a leader in the conversational commerce revolution.
    • 21% South African Market Penetration: Clickatell empowers a remarkable 21% of economically active South Africans to interact with businesses on its AI-enabled Chat Commerce platform. This makes Clickatell the #1 provider of Chat Commerce in the South African and Sub-Saharan African markets.
    • Leading Customer Base: Clickatell has deployed solutions with leading brands across the Banking sector, such as ABSA Chat Wallet, the Airline sector, such as FlySafair boarding passes and pay for luggage in chat, the Retail sector, such as Pick n Pay, the Healthcare sector, such as Dis-Chem Loyalty and ordering medication, the Travel sector, such as Europcar car rental, the Telecoms sector, such as Telkom bill pay, the Automotive sector, such as Tiger Wheel & Tyre instant pricing, promotions and agent chats, the Financial Services sector, such as Woolworths Financial Services FICA and agent chat, and the Financial Services and Insurance sector, such as Discovery ‘Ask Discovery’, enabling them to deliver seamless Chat Commerce experiences at scale that meet customers where they are.
    • Top Meta Business Partner in South Africa: Clickatell’s impressive growth places Clickatell as a top Business Service Provider (BSP) for Meta in the region.
    • Unwavering Commitment to Security: Clickatell prioritizes the highest levels of data protection and privacy. Its platform adheres to the most rigorous security standards, including PCI-DSS, ISO27001, and SOC2 Type 2 compliance.
    • B-BBEE Level 3 Compliance: Clickatell demonstrates its commitment to Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) by achieving a Level Three score.

    “We are thrilled with the exceptional growth of our AI-enabled Chat Commerce platform,” said Pieter de Villiers, co-founder and CEO of Clickatell. “This momentum signifies the increasing importance for brands to meet their customers where they are and to invest in the largest digital engagement platform that exists today, chat. With the upgrades to our platform and our strong commitment to compliance and security, we are well-positioned to further empower businesses and consumers across South Africa and beyond.”

    Clickatell continues to advance its Chat Commerce Platform with increased AI-powered capabilities to drive its global scale across a variety of use cases including Banking, Financial Services, Insurance, Airlines, Retail, Automotive, Telecommunications, Hospitality, Education and Healthcare. These enhancements include the following:

    Clickatell AI

    Clickatell AI offers generative AI capabilities that improve customer service and support. This includes Gen-AI-enabled smart responses and suggested responses to live agents and recognizing customer intent in natural language, leading to more efficient and effective customer interactions. By utilizing a private and secure large language model (LLM) trained on customer data, Clickatell ensures personalized and contextually relevant responses while maintaining data privacy and security. This feature will help businesses scale their customer service operations, increase conversions and revenue, improve customer satisfaction, and reduce costs.

    Data and Analytics

    Clickatell’s Data and Analytics services offer dashboards and reporting tools, accessible from a user portal, that provide a comprehensive view of Chat Commerce campaigns and performance. In addition, to ensure complete control of data, the raw information can also be fed into the enterprise’s own data lakes, ensuring all analysis and history are maintained in their proprietary environments. This data is delivered at different levels of granularity, allowing businesses to make informed decisions and derive insights about customer behavior. The service includes a data dictionary, manifest files for data reconciliation, and self-healing capabilities to ensure data integrity and reliability.


    Broadcast Messenger

    Clickatell also launched an updated version of its marketing messaging tool, Campaign Manager, called Broadcast Messenger, helping businesses connect with their audiences through chat. This enterprise-grade messaging web app is designed to streamline the process of creating, managing, and sending WhatsApp and SMS messages at scale. With a user-friendly web interface, customers can personalize messages, add rich media such as videos, images, and locations, and schedule campaigns. Broadcast Messenger supports sending promotional messages, exclusive content, discount codes, event invitations, and newsletters, enhancing customer engagement and improving communication efficiency. This tool provides an easy way for businesses to start their Chat Commerce journey.

    Clickatell’s success aligns with South Africa’s growing mobile-first landscape. According to Kepios, as of January 2024, nearly 99% of South African internet users connect via mobile devices, highlighting the vast potential of Chat Commerce solutions in the region.

    Clickatell is at the forefront of this exciting transition, driving innovation and seamless mobile communication experiences for businesses and consumers alike.

  • Banker and Regulator Agree Chat Commerce can Radically Shift Financial Inclusion in Nigeria

    Banker and Regulator Agree Chat Commerce can Radically Shift Financial Inclusion in Nigeria

    Clickatell (www.Clickatell.com), the Chat Commerce and business messaging leader, discussed with attendees at Clickatell’s Connect Interact and Transact (CIT) annual event earlier this month how they could drive financial inclusion and reach their revenue goals by adopting Chat Commerce. The event took place at the Radisson Blu, Anchorage in Lagos with industry experts from Clickatell, Ecobank and Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) sharing insight and tips with an audience of business and technology leaders. 

    Werner Lindemann, Clickatell’s Senior Vice President of Enterprise Sales, Growth Markets, kicked off by pointing out how global brands, like Amazon and Uber, have built their entire business model on convenience commerce – where businesses find ways to deliver services and products to their customers wherever they are and at a time that works for them.

    Lindemann went on to share that the best way to reach customers where they are is on their phone. However, he said apps have a very limited shelf life, saying the average customer regularly uses just five apps on their phone. He advised instead of focusing on building apps, brands should be looking to leverage the power of chat, especially since WhatsApp is the most used (https://bit.ly/3Nab6Q1) social media platform in Nigeria. What’s more, when combined with USSD, companies will be able to reach almost every person in the country. 

    The power of Chat Commerce is especially relevant for the Nigerian banking industry and Lindemann shared that banks can now onboard new clients and conduct Know Your Customer (KYC) standards using chat, meaning banks can serve customers anywhere in the country, in real time.

    Lindemann shared other use cases where Clickatell had radically changed how Southern African businesses engaged with their customers, these included:

    • How a national retailer was able to cut their broadsheet print production and distribution from 5 Dollars to just 3 cents
    • How that retailer now has a 40% to 70% engagement rate on their product specials using WhatsApp, compared to 3% on SMS
    • How a national retailer now uses WhatsApp to enable self-service for their loyalty programme and has eliminated more than 20 000 call centre calls per month to block or replace loyalty cards
    • How a national healthcare chain now allows customers to order and arrange collection of their chronic medication at their nearest outlet, no matter where they are in the country
    • How a Southern African low-cost airline allows travellers to check in and receive their boarding pass on the WhatsApp channel 

    An engaging panel discussion followed the keynote, introduced by Clickatell’s West Africa Managing Director, Samson Isa and facilitated by Uzo Nwani, Commercial Director of Clickatell.

    Opening the discussion, panelists highlighted how their organization had used technology to boost inclusivity. For CBN, this was achieved by its introduction of the eNaira digital currency. For Ecobank, its move to offer a WhatsApp channel allowed them to reach their customers more easily. And for Clickatell, it has been the company’s drive to help banks in Africa improve their reach by moving to the more ubiquitous chat channel.

    “One out of three Nigerians are financially excluded. Therefore the work we have done with Clickatell on the eNaira USSD channel is so exciting. We are also looking to the eNaira to lower the costs of remittances as well as bring down the high costs of cash management. We believe the eNaira will drive inclusive growth and make the Central Bank, as an institution, much more effective in carrying out its mandate,” said Stephen Ambore, Assistant Director, CBN.

    Osahon Akpata, Group Head of Consumer Payments at Ecobank shared the power of mobile with the audience.

    “Across 33 countries, Ecobank Group processed $5.1 billion through our mobile app in 2021 and we built an agency banking network of 110,000 agents, leveraging the ubiquity of mobile devices. While Chat Commerce is still in its infancy for us, we are scaling up the platform for better customer service. We have integrated artificial intelligence into our chatbot, Rafiki, to help solve customer queries quicker and seamlessly. We also have customers using the chat channel for transactions and we plan on expanding its use to product information as well. People are already on these chat platforms, and we aim to serve them with payments where they are,” he said.

    Akpata went on to share that being able to generate QR codes on the WhatsApp channel, make transfers and buy airtime have all been met with great enthusiasm by Ecobank customers, adding that chat will be a key part of the bank’s drive to reach its target of 100 million customers.

    CBN will also be looking to chat to connect with people in Nigeria further in the future.

    “We are looking at chat to help us deliver financial literacy and boost inclusion. When it comes to innovation, chat, including USSD, can help us reach new customers and I am excited about the future opportunities, especially at the base of the pyramid,” said Ambore.

    Lindemann wrapped up the proceedings by saying: “We’ve just kicked off a project with a major bank with around 15 million active customers, and we will be building them a chat banking wallet in just six weeks. In my opinion, chat is allowing us to fast-forward innovation for enterprises. I believe every enterprise has a responsibility to deploy products that have a real impact on their customer and society, and to see this happen in six weeks is testament to the power of chat.”

  • Feature: MTN Nigeria should not hold Nigerians Ransom on USSD airtime vending

    Feature: MTN Nigeria should not hold Nigerians Ransom on USSD airtime vending

    by Abolade Adewale

    The quest for financial inclusion in our country cannot be complete without mentioning the role that banks and telecommunications companies had played in recent times. One can also see this in the light of the current National Identification Number which was seen to be largely needed by the telecommunications company but it has been incorporated with the bank details of Nigerians.

    The synergy of the banks and telecommunications brands has also led to the provision of many jobs within that ecosystem. For instance, various companies have been created to build platforms that have simplified life for Nigerians, some of these companies include Clickatell, Creditswitch, amongst others.

    Also, when we consider the customer base of Nigerian banks and telecommunications companies; we will find out that there is a huge difference in the numbers; however the convergence of technology and platforms have aided financial inclusion. According to the last report released by the Nigerian Communications Commission, as of December 2020, MTN Nigeria has 80,764,128 subscribers; Globacom has 54,840,192; Airtel has 55,642,209 and Etisalat has 12,982,149. Further revelations should that there are 300,042,650 Mobile (GSM) lines in Nigeria for the year 2020.

    According to a report by Nairametrics in August 2020, the telecommunications operator had about 64 million internet subscribers. These statistics showed that this telecommunications company has a large subscriber base than lots of banks in Nigeria. Equally, the USSD and integration of banks’ vending API into the telecommunications network have supported the financial inclusion plans of the Federal Government of Nigeria.

    Currently, the convenience experienced by Nigerians in vend airtime and data from directly from their bank accounts have become a well-embraced product for people and it would not be necessary to have it stopped by the most subscribed telecommunications network.

    While speaking to a customer on the new experience, a subscriber of MTN Nigeria said, he got this message while attempting to recharge his line via USSD, “Dear Customer, our bank recharge channels are currently unavailable. Kindly recharge using physical cards. We apologise for the inconvenience. Thank you.”

    In the words of the customer, “we should not be moving forward and backward on the same matter. The USSD and internet-backing recharge models have become accepted means of payment for Nigerians. We should not retrogress by stopping it. This is a slap on the face of Nigerians. I tried recharging through my Glo line and it went through. Whatever be the reason, MTN Nigeria should resolve it immediately to avoid Nigerians porting to other networks.”

    Another customer mentioned that Nigerians are usually been taken for a ride. MTN Nigeria cannot hold us to ransom. He said, “I have the feeling that they are looking for ways of optimizing profit from the Momo channels, MTNTopit, card recharge, and MyMTN app. All the campaigns of the past urging customers to choose the environment and eco-friendly models would be sacrificed on the platform of selfishness.”

    He continued, “MTN Nigeria is a Publicly Quoted company, on the Nigerian Stock Exchange, the brand is supposed to see itself as Nigeria; support the financial inclusion culture of the Federal Government of Nigeria. Everyone must call the company to order before it goes out of hand. From insinuations, MTN Nigeria may have occasioned the meeting called recently by the Nigerian Communications Commission; the Central Bank of Nigeria, and others industry stakeholders that led to pegging the cost of USSD at N6.98k some weeks earlier.”

    From our investigations, all Nigerian banks have been made to silently deregister from the MTN Nigeria platform from the 1st of April because of decreasing the current effective discount rate of 4.0% to 2.5%. This can be seen as a unilateral imposition of such drastic measures by the Mobile Network Operator (MNO). Speculations within the industry showed that if MTN Nigeria gets away with this other drastic move other MNOs may follow suit. It is time for the regulators to prevail on MTN Nigeria to order so that the journey of many years would not be reversed for selfish reasons.

  • Clickatell Launches Chat Desk to Shake Up the $1.3 Trillion Call Center Industry

    Clickatell Launches Chat Desk to Shake Up the $1.3 Trillion Call Center Industry

    Clickatell (www.Clickatell.com), a global leader in mobile communications and chat commerce, today announced the launch of Chat Desk, a digital contact center solution that helps agents resolve customer queries and obtain customer insights in real-time using chat channels for live agent support. The solution addresses the growing consumer demand for easy and personal experiences by transforming the traditional call center with one simple integration.

    “For decades, businesses have spent significant resources on the call center experience – generating 265 billion customer service calls each year – and most of this investment does not create desired outcomes for businesses or consumers. It’s cost prohibitive and doesn’t provide customers with the experience they expect,” said Jeppe Dorff, Chief Product and Technology Officer at Clickatell. “Chat Desk addresses some of the biggest customer experience challenges today. It enables consumers to communicate on the chat channels they are most comfortable using, while enabling organizations to easily integrate chat to deliver the very best customer experience and not break the bank.”

    A complete end-to-end chat solution, Clickatell’s Chat Desk enables live agents and their supervisors to communicate with customers over popular chat platforms such as WhatsApp, tracking tickets and chat histories.

    “Our clients connect with each other all day, every day with instant messages,” said Shaun Kotwal, Head of Standard Bank Wealth and Investment, South Africa. “By providing Clickatell’s dedicated Chat Desk, we can deliver a service that is more personalized than ever before – right where our clients are already communicating. A service that is not only simple, but also secure.”

    By integrating chat channels within Chat Desk, businesses lower the demand on costly, traditional voice channels and enable agents to resolve multiple chat requests simultaneously, lowering the cost per resolution and increasing customer satisfaction, Dorff explained.

    Chat Desk’s real-time reporting and analytics provides agents with the ability to view customer sentiment and insights, and access customers’ outstanding and historical tickets. With these features, agents efficiently manage customer escalations by easily transferring inquiries to correct departments or specialized agents.

    “Studies have shown that just three percent of customers enjoy using IVR (interactive voice response), yet 80 percent of interactions can be resolved by automation and engagement,” added Dorff. “Chat Desk addresses this divide with a solution designed to delight customers and build brand loyalty.”

    Additional key benefits of Chat Desk are its capabilities for supervisors. Chat Desk empowers supervisors to effectively manage agents by monitoring their activities, performance, productivity, and workload in real-time. Through Clickatell’s Flow, a visual workflow editor, agents can also identify the most frequent queries and where resources like interactive FAQs and other self-service options are sufficient.

    Chat Desk is cloud-based for fast deployments and instant updates, significantly lowering the risk for organizations.

  • Clickatell Announces Automated FAQ Response Solution on WhatsApp for Businesses Experiencing High Call Volumes

    Clickatell Announces Automated FAQ Response Solution on WhatsApp for Businesses Experiencing High Call Volumes

    Cost-effective contact center automation solution helps businesses improve customer experience

    In response to the COVID-19 crisis, Clickatell, a global leader in mobile communications and chat commerce platforms, today announced a swift to implement and cost-effective response solution for businesses’ contact centers to deliver enhanced customer experience. Clickatell’s announcement of its new Automated FAQ Response solution comes as contact center operations struggle with maintaining consistent customer experience amidst support agents working remotely, consumer anxiety, lockdowns and social distancing measures.

    “Businesses are experiencing ever higher customer queries, while also having to decentralize their contact center operations with thousands of frontline agents having to work from home. Some businesses are contending with less staff and even shutting some contact centers down, making customer service challenges a critical area of need,” explained Jeppe Dorff, Clickatell Chief Product and Technology Officer.

    Clickatell’s new Automated FAQ Response solution, integrated with Clickatell’s cloud-based workflow automation software, enables enterprises to automate responses and provide immediate answers to customers’ most frequently asked questions in WhatsApp – improving customer experience and reducing operating costs.

    The cloud-based solution integrates into existing contact center interactive voice response (IVR) systems with minimal configuration changes. It includes Clickatell’s Flow, a visual workflow editor, to manage the questions and responses. Clickatell enables this with a FAQ bot that gives customers instant answers to questions on WhatsApp. Businesses will be able to significantly reduce their contact center congestion.

    In addition to the solution for WhatsApp, businesses can also send out timely emergency text notifications through SMS using Clickatell’s Campaign Manager, a free, no-code communication platform. Campaign Manager makes SMS messages and campaigns simple to launch in minutes for time-critical alerts and notifications at scale.

    Dear Editor, “Our purpose at Clickatell is creating a better world through technology, and we have seen this amplified during several crises over our 20 years of leadership in mobile technology. We now find ourselves amidst a global public health crisis, and we’re here to help our customers reach their audience through fast, reliable communications and digital commerce platforms,” said Jeppe Dorff.

    Clickatell recognizes businesses’ need to be responsive to customers in online and mobile channels is crucial during these extraordinary times. To help businesses get started, Clickatell is providing businesses a special offer that removes set-up fees and waives three months of software platform usage fees.

    For more information on Clickatell visit Clickatell.com. For details regarding our new contact center special offer, please visit our Automated FAQ Response page here.

  • Chat commerce, key to growing Nigerian businesses – Van Rensburg

    Chat commerce, key to growing Nigerian businesses – Van Rensburg

    Nigerian businesses can be successful and better managed if there is a cost effective way of handling transactions, reducing purchasing risk by increasing social interaction and personalization of shopping experience through chat commerce.
    This was the view of the Chief Commercial Officer, Clickatell, Hannes Van Rensburg who spoke to newsmen in Lagos recently.

    Describing Nigeria as a laboratory of ideas, Van Rensburg noted that Clickatell understands emerging markets and has come revolutionize the narrative on chat commerce. He noted that the company has the right digital connections that will enable companies engage in chat transactions.

    He added that the company is already doing business with banks and telecommunications companies and their solution has been deployed to enhance transactions for Nigerians. “The reason why e-commerce companies in Nigeria are struggling is because the population of Nigerians that uses the internet on their laptop and PC is very limited compared to the number of people that uses their cell phones and this will facilitate chat commerce in Nigeria. This will aid the growth of businesses within the Nigerian market.”

    He urged Nigerian businesses to embrace Clickatell, according to me, “I don’t think e-commerce will fail in Nigeria, but I think chat commerce will be significantly more successful because we are ready to partner and excited to work with Nigeria”, he said.
    According to him, the chat application is developed in a way the consumer knows the individual on the other side.

    Van Rensburg said, “It is encrypted, just like WhatsApp is encrypted end to end. The way that the authentication is done, if you get a new phone, and you want to install a new WhatsApp application, then you have to go through authentication process. So there is inherent security built into chat applications. So it would be more natural, it is secure”. They don’t have to think about password and where to store the password, and how many times they have to change password because it’s built into the system. We were the first company in the world that started loans on chat banking on WhatsApp in the world. So Whatsapp is a long term partner for us and we have a long relationship with WhatsApp”.
    The CCO thereafter assured that the company will continue to work with Nigerian banks, telecom companies while reiterating its focus on the commerce part of chat commerce.