Clickatell, which provides mobile messaging and transaction services, has today gone live with its Chat 2 Pay feature with low-cost airline FlySafair.
Chat 2 Pay has a pay-by-link capability that allows customers the convenience of mobile payments via FlySafair’s WhatsApp channel.
FlySafair customers can access the WhatsApp service by sending ‘Hi’ to the FlySafair business account on +27 87 357 0030.
Once in the WhatsApp channel customers can select ‘My Booking’ and then ‘Buy a Bag’ and follow the prompts on the secure payment link to make a purchase on WhatsApp. Customers can also scan a QR code at the check-in counters to receive the secure payment link.
“We are always looking for ways to improve our customer experience and are therefore very excited that our customers can now pay for their luggage with a payment link shared to their mobile phones via WhatsApp. There is no need any more for our customers to go stand in a queue at the airport to pay for luggage,” says Kirby Gordon, chief marketing officer at FlySafair.
“Our goal is to offer all the functionality currently available on our website via the WhatsApp channel, making end-to-end booking and reservation management as easy as possible.”
The deal with FlySafair comes as the trend of interacting and transacting with airlines using mobile messaging is growing.
Clickatell’s latest Chat Commerce Trends Report: Travel Edition 2022, found that 89% of consumers would like to use mobile messaging to interact with airlines and 77% said they are willing to use a mobile payment link with travel brands.
It notes that commerce within mobile messaging is becoming the preferred way for consumers to transact, accounting for 71% of retail traffic and generating 61% of online shopping orders.
Jeppe Dorff, chief product and technology officer at Clickatell, says the company is "thrilled to work with FlySafair to transform its customers’ experience by making it possible to make payments using their mobile phones".
"No one has time to stand in queues anymore, and almost every adult on the planet has a mobile phone. There is a major opportunity for airlines across the globe to enhance their customers’ travel experience by making it possible to browse, book and pay for, as well as manage their travel bookings on their mobile phones," he says.