Wirecard and Cognigy Facilitate Smooth Payments in Conversational Commerce

By STS News Desk On Sep 13, 2018

Wirecard integrates digital payment solution for virtual sales consultancy in the USA and Germany
Online customers do not need to leave the chat at any time during the purchasing process

Wirecard, the global innovation leader for digital financial technology, is introducing digital payment integration for conversations with chatbots, together with Cognigy, the leading provider of conversational AI software solutions. Therefore, for the first time, online customers from Germany and the USA are able to go through the entire purchasing process, including checkout and payment, whilst carrying out a dialogue with a virtual sales consultant, without having to leave the application. With the integrated payment solution, the customer can pay via credit card, iDeal or PayPal.

As a result of the service provided by Wirecard and Cognigy, there is enormous potential to change personalized online retail in the long run. Around the world, there are more than 200,000 chatbots for Facebook alone. According to a survey by HubSpot Research in six countries (USA, UK, Ireland, Germany, Mexico and Colombia), almost half of all consumers are open to making a purchase only with the help of a virtual purchasing advisor. This form of customer interaction, using artificial intelligence as a consultancy tool as well as incorporating the digital payment function in the purchasing process, is taking the individual shopping experience in conversational commerce to a new level.

Sascha Poggemann, Founder and COO at Cognigy, said, “For billions of users, messaging apps such as Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp are by far the most popular apps on their smartphones and are playing an ever more important role as an online shopping tool. It is a great benefit for consumers if they can find and purchase products directly on their smartphone by way of automated, fully digital dialogue. We are pleased that we, together with Wirecard, have found a solution that enables digital payment transactions within a chatbot.”

Catharina Tiede, Head of Partner Management for Consumer Goods and Product Innovations at Wirecard, adds, “The fact that the customer does not need to leave the chat with the virtual sales advisor at any point during the purchasing process is a key factor for the perfect user experience. Even when paying! With this product, companies can optimise their digital service and ensure greater customer retention as they are available around the clock and in any desired language. We are happy to provide an important element for this smooth user experience with our digital payment method for conversational payment.”