ACI Worldwide (NASDAQ: ACIW), a leading global provider of real-time electronic payment and banking solutions, today announced an alliance with Dallas-based Solutions by Text to provide organizations the ability to receive payments via SMS.
Integrating Solutions by Text’s software with ACI’s UP Bill Payments will provide customers with simple pay-by-text options, increasing on-time payments and reducing collection costs. Organizations that are currently utilizing ACI’s current version of UP Bill Payments will benefit from this integration.
As the digital texting needs of consumers continues to grow, organizations must be willing to meet them where they are - on their smartphone. By integrating ACI’s UP Bill Payments solution with the Pay-by-Text software from Solutions by Text, organizations in the consumer finance, healthcare, higher education, government and insurance industries can provide their customers with a personalized and convenient payment experience all while being fully compliant with industry regulation. With text payment reminders and the ease of completing a transaction in just a few clicks, consumers will benefit from an overall positive payment experience.
“Text messages have up to a 98 percent open rate and text billing reminders have an overwhelmingly positive customer response, which can’t be said about paper billing statements,” said Danny Cantrell, founder and CEO, Solutions by Text. “As smartphone use continues to advance, offering customers the option to pay-by-text is quickly becoming a necessity as it improves the payment experience through payment reminders and mobile-enabled payment systems. We are happy to join a market leader like ACI Worldwide in improving the overall digital payment experience.”
“The vast majority of Americans (95%) own a cell phone of some kind, according to Pew Research data. As consumers continue to rely more heavily on smartphones for just about everything, it is quickly becoming the device of choice for digital payments,” said Andrew Sajeski, business leader, biller solutions, ACI Worldwide. “To increase consumers’ ability to pay their bills on time in a more convenient way, we are integrating our solution with Solutions by Text to provide a pay-by-text option to consumers, which will drive on-time payments and improve collections.”
More than 3,600 organizations trust ACI Worldwide for improving consumer satisfaction with easy billing and payment options. On average, organizations report a 25 percent increase in consumer satisfaction after partnering with ACI Worldwide’s UP Bill Payment solution, according to independent third-party research.
In related news, ACI recently announced its intent to acquire Western Union’s U.S. domestic bill pay business - Speedpay.