Mobile messaging and chat commerce provider Clickatell has launched the first chat commerce platform-as-a-service (CCPaaS), which is expected to empower brands to capitalise on the opportunity of chat commerce.

In what Clickatell said is a big step forward in monetising chat, the CCPaaS combines communication and payments in one comprehensive offering for a complete, authenticated, digital commerce experience in mobile messaging channels such as WhatsApp, Apple Messages, SMS and Unstructured Supplementary Service Data, or more commonly, USSD.

“The launch of Clickatell’s CCPaaS marks a significant milestone in our company’s mission to revolutionise customer engagement and facilitate frictionless commerce within messaging applications,” says Clickatell CEO and cofounder Pieter de Villiers.

Clickatell’s CCPaaS includes several features, such as customisable chatbots; live agent chat; real-time analytics and reporting; easy integration with existing systems; and embedded payments.

Building on its previous platform, Clickatell’s new payments capability integrates with leading gateways for secure payment processing, with features including card tokenisation and integration with WhatsApp commerce functionalities that allow the display of product information and images in the brand’s WhatsApp channel.

The service provides a website- or application-like experience, with all activities undertaken on one screen, rather than interactions with call centres or dealing with logins, re-authentication, unwanted chatbot or survey popups, shifting between email and weblinks, nonconcurrent chat sessions and disparate experiences on different messaging channels.

“This ground-breaking platform enables businesses to seamlessly connect, interact and transact with their customers on the messaging platforms they already use. This next evolution of Clickatell’s chat commerce platform allows businesses to create chat commerce experiences that drive sales and increase customer satisfaction,” says De Villiers.

Consumers can securely pay through a link in any messaging channel, leading to a Clickatell-hosted checkout that tokenises the user’s payment information and saves it for future use, making subsequent purchases streamlined for the consumer with “one-tap pay”.

The highest security standards for data protection and privacy are ensured with the platform compliant with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS), International Organisation for Standardisation, or ISO, 27001 and Systems and Organisation Controls 2, he adds.

“We run our lives within messaging applications. Whether arranging a lunch with a friend or scheduling a school drop-off, messaging is convenient and simple. Our new platform enables our favourite brands to serve us in these same messaging platforms with a full commerce experience.”

Clickatell’s CCPaaS is offered through three distinct packages, namely Clickatell Connect – The Communication Package; Clickatell Interact – The Engagement Package; and Clickatell Transact – The Commerce Package.

Clickatell Connect, the foundation package, enables businesses to send and receive enterprise-grade mobile messages over multiple messaging channels through a representational state transfer application programming interface or a Web-based campaign management tool.

“This package delivers high-volume services and campaigns, adhering to strict security and compliance requirements, delivering billions of messages reliably to customers all over the world,” says De Villiers, highlighting key features such as high volume queuing and routing, message encryption, anonymous messaging, number management and brand visibility across all channels, as well as rich chat features such as list pickets and location sharing.

The Interact package, meanwhile, enables businesses to have meaningful conversations with their consumers, with brands now able to easily and quickly build messaging workflows to deploy chatbots and mini-applications from a low/no-code Web interface.

Interact also includes live agent enablement through an advanced Web-based application that provides real-time sentiment insights, agent assist, chat transfers and agent performance metrics.

Lastly, the Transact package, building on the foundation of Connect and Interact, enables businesses to sell products and services directly within messaging channels by sending the customer a payment prompt that initiates a secure and simple payment experience.

Businesses can accept payments on the Clickatell Platform with no development required, and with secure link and OMS integration, businesses can provide unparalleled checkout experiences that are fully cloud native and turnkey.

Payment capabilities include tokenisation for frictionless user experience, PCI-DSS security, General Data Protection Regulation and local privacy compliance and legacy processes integration.