Chat commerce and business messaging leader Clickatell has launched their Chat 2 Pay feature for South African integrated communications company, Telkom.

As a result Telkom’s customer base can use the Chat 2 Pay pay-by-link capability to make payments in WhatsApp.

Telkom post-paid and prepaid customers can pay their phone and xDSL/fibre bills, and buy airtime, data and SMS bundles by sending “Hi” on WhatsApp to 0811 601 700.

According to a statement from the companies, Telkom’s 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, make directory inquiries.

With the addition of Chat 2 Pay, "customers benefit from a convenient and personalised service to pay bills and VAS top-ups via Mastercard and Visa debit and credit cards."

Werner Lindemann, Clickatell’s Senior Vice President Enterprise Sales, Growth Markets, said, “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. Payments in chat give telcos the tools they need to help their customers complete payments simply and safely in the channel they already know and trust, significantly boosting customer experience and revenue.”

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

Lindemann continued: “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 telcos that are looking for new revenue channels and better efficiencies.”