An IVR payment system may simplify the payment process for your clients while saving your organisation many hours spent taking payments over the phone the manual way. It is the most cost-effective way of protecting your organisation, achieving PCI compliance and stop agents asking customers to read their card numbers out over the phone.
While deciding whether IVR technology is worthwhile for your business investment, the following advantages may be considered:
An IVR payment system allows customers to make payments at any time, from anywhere, without the need to visit a physical location or wait for a representative to be available.
By accepting payments around the clock, 24/7, 365 days a year, you can save a considerable amount of staff time and reduce monotony from having to repeatedly ask the same questions and be trained how to take payments successfully and securely.
Payment IVR systems use advanced encryption and other security measures to protect customer information and prevent fraud. It presents a more professional and reassuring image to customers who are making a payment, and give them peace of mind that their data is safe. IVR systems can help businesses comply with regulations regarding the recording and archiving of payment transactions.
IVR systems can handle a large volume of calls simultaneously, reducing the need for human operators. This can result in significant cost savings for businesses. Staff only need to get involved if absolutely necessary
Your organisation will never miss a payment from a customer who getting through to your team due to a high volume of calls. IVR payments also allow businesses to accept payments from a wider range of customers, including those who may be on different timezones and can’t call a contact centre during it’s operating hours. I can also improve inclusivity and reduce barriers to making payment for customers who are unable to visit a physical location, speak to an agent, or may have difficulties accessing the internet.
IVR payment systems are available around the clock, so no need to wait in call queues for a contact centre agent or opening times, avoiding customer frustration. With clear and concise voice prompts you can ensure a consistent, high quality customer experience and satisfaction, without the need to train staff
It’s crucial to provide clear instructions to the customer as they use an IVR payment service, avoiding any confusion or frustration during the call. By offering different languages at the start of the call, you can cater for a wide customer demographic and reduce any calls into your team asking for help. Additionally, an IVR payment system can be configured to offer different currencies and payment options, suitable for a customer’s preferred method of payment.
IVR payments can be processed quickly and automatically, saving time and business resources, and reducing the need for manual payment processing and the risk of errors while increasing the speed of transactions.
Payment IVR allows people with disabilities or those who prefer to make payments by phone to do so easily.
An IVR payment service can provide customers with detailed information about their account balances. By asking for reference details and checking their identity, it can read out a payment balance or outstanding debt to the customer, to help them decide how much to pay. Reports can display payment amounts made against those reference details for easy reconciliation by your team. Alternatively, by using API integrations, all this information can be updated instantly into your back-office systems.
An effective IVR payment system can have a simple payment flow, or be configured to how your organization operations with different options and “branches” based on what a customer selects.
For example, a company may have multiple departments or subrands that take payments. The first voice prompt could ask “Welcome to the payment line. To make a payment for A press 1, to make a payment for B, please press 2.” and so on.
Rather than having payment phone numbers for each team or department, a customer can dial a single number. Useful for printing or sending on payment communications such as emails, text messages or printing on invoices. Additionally, for team members across the organisation, its easier to use one number when transferring a customer to make a payment.
Using a telephone keypad to input account information or card details can be challenging for some customers, especially for those with a severe physical disability.
The IVR payment system can be configured to prompt the customer to speak details out loud, accurately decipher their answers, and progress to the next step to accommodate all information formats.
Card details are verified and processed securely. The system will mute the call as sensitive details are spoken, so any call recordings are out-of-scope and the organisation remains
With this voice-to-text option, customers can be prompted to speak their details aloud at certain steps. The service will provide this information back to them in a sound file, in transcribed text format in Excel, or integrated directly into the client’s back office systems via our powerful API. This bypasses the hurdles of manually transcribing details from call recordings, such as data security issues when sensitive details are involved.
For example: Charities need to capture address information from customers who qualify for Gift Aid (a tax relief) to a donation.
Most importantly, a Payment IVR can be a very cost-effective solution for businesses, as it reduces the need for manual labour and allows for automated payment processing. Thanks to the many years of providing IVR payment services, we know the service typically pays for itself within 3 months
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