Mobile messaging has seen tremendous growth in the financial industry over the last few years. According to a recent report by Global Mobile Money, as much as 69% of mobile users have used their mobile device to carry out a banking activity while 66% have carried out some form of transaction directly from their device. Businesses in the financial industry are beginning to embrace the ubiquity of mobile technologies and are integrating SMS into their business communications.

Gone are the days where businesses asked “Why should we integrate SMS into our business?” The question now is “How can we integrate SMS into our business communications?” We have outlined various ways that you can incorporate SMS messaging into your financial business when communicating with customers, staff and stakeholders.

Communication with employees and stakeholders

SMS is simple, it’s cost-effective and it gets the message across. Here’s how SMS is being used to communicate with employees and stakeholders within the financial industry:

  • Emergency notifications: Group SMS messages can sent to all employees in the case of an emergency or when needed to send out an urgent notification or update.
  • Health and Safety notices: SMS messages can be sent to employees detailing health and safety advice.
  • Meeting reminders: Reminders of scheduled meetings or invites to impromptu meetings can be sent via SMS.
  • Orientation messages: New employees can receive SMS messages with their computer log in details and any other important information they should be aware of before starting out in the company, for example, parking bay numbers, dress code etc.
  • Automated communications: In cases where servers need to be monitored constantly, automated SMS messages can notify the relevant IT personal whenever there is an issue that needs to be seen to. An example of an automated internal communications is where air conditioning units are monitored and the IT staff are notified via SMS when the server room temperature goes above or below a predetermined temperature range.

Communication with customers

In this section, we list the top 10 ways SMS is being used to enhance the customer experience:

  • Two-way communication: Incoming numbers are being used to enable two-way communication between clients and their financial institute. In this case, clients can ask any relevant questions or raise concerns via SMS to avoid queues or wasting time on the phone. Incoming numbers can also be used as the first step in a loan or credit card application or to update the client as to the status of the application
  • Personalised communication: Personalised SMS messages can be sent to clients informing them of investment opportunities, loan details or as payment reminders.
  • Feedback requests: Surveys or feedback requests can also be sent via SMS.
  • SMS API integration: Bespoke CRM platforms can be SMS enabled using our SMS API solution, allowing staff to contact clients directly from your CRM system. This SMS communication could include anything from important account information to automated birthday wishes.
  • Payment reminders: Customers can be reminded of overdue payments or debts via SMS in order to reduce the number of late payments.
  • Two-factor authentication: Automated SMS messages can be used to verify account log in details.
  • One-time pins: Automated SMS messages can be used to send a one-time pin to a client's mobile phone when they are making a payment or transfer.
  • Account activity: Automated SMS messages can be used to notify clients whenever a payment or transfer has taken place on their account.
  • Fraud prevention: Real-time SMS alerts can aid financial companies when it comes to fraud prevention. SMS notifications can be sent to the customer instantly if there has been any activity on their account that seems out of the ordinary. The customer can then act quickly to report fraud or suspicious activity.
  • Financial advice: Personalised SMS messages can be sent to clients informing them of any financial advice such as how best to save money or where to swipe their debit cards to get the most rewards.

When it comes to the financial service industry sector, time really is money. Which makes SMS the perfect communication solution. SMS is fast, reliable, trusted and is being used in so many different ways within the financial sector. Now that you know the power behind a simple SMS, how are you going to integrate SMS into your business?