Imagine a customer asking an AI assistant:
“What’s my outstanding balance?”
“£147.50.”
“Can I pay it now?”
Four simple words, but suddenly the conversation has entered the world of payments.
What started as a routine enquiry now involves card data, PCI DSS compliance, authentication, fraud prevention and transaction processing.
The customer is ready to pay. So why make them start again somewhere else?
AI is answering questions. Now it’s time to complete the journey.
AI is moving beyond basic customer service. From checking account balances to managing subscriptions and resolving billing enquiries, it’s changing how businesses interact with customers.
But answering a question is only part of the journey.
When someone wants to settle a bill, renew a policy or upgrade a service, payment is often the logical next step. Sending them to another channel creates friction and risks losing the transaction altogether.
The commercial opportunity is clear: help customers complete transactions at the moment they’re ready to pay.
Your AI doesn’t need to see card details
Imagine a customer typing their card number directly into an AI chatbot.
Where does that information go? Could it appear in conversation histories, application logs or monitoring systems?
AI environments aren’t necessarily designed to handle sensitive payment information. Allowing card details into these systems can introduce security risks and increase PCI DSS compliance requirements.
A better approach is to separate the conversation from the transaction.
The assistant identifies when a customer wants to pay and initiates the process. A dedicated payment service handles sensitive card information, authentication and processing.
This allows businesses to introduce payments into AI-powered journeys while keeping card details out of the AI environment.
Let AI start the payment. Let Encoded handle the rest.
Encoded’s Gateway Services provide the technology to connect customer-facing applications with payment processing through a single API, supporting 80+ acquirers and gateways.
Hosted Payment Pages and Hosted Payment Fields offer secure card entry options, while PayByLink enables customers to complete transactions through a protected payment link.
These capabilities could support payments initiated by AI assistants, subject to the appropriate integration.
Encoded’s Gateway Services support a range of payment options, including cards, digital wallets such as Apple Pay and Google Pay, and Open Banking, depending on the integration and configuration. Secure tokenisation can also support repeat and recurring payments without customers needing to re-enter their card details for every transaction.
For businesses with more complex requirements, Encoded’s payment orchestration capabilities provide additional control over transaction routing and acquiring arrangements.
Where could AI-powered payments make the biggest difference?
The potential spans industries where customer enquiries often lead directly to payments.
Telecommunications: Customers could settle bills or pay for upgrades during an AI interaction.
Utilities: Balance enquiries could lead directly to a secure payment request.
Financial services: Customers could complete insurance renewals or repayments following an AI-assisted enquiry.
Contact centres: AI could handle routine billing and payment requests, freeing agents to focus on more complex customer needs.
SaaS platforms: Software providers could add payment functionality to AI-powered services without building their own payment infrastructure.
Each application offers the same commercial advantage: fewer steps between customer intent and payment completion.
The next AI breakthrough? Finishing the job.
AI is changing customer service, but the bigger opportunity lies in what happens after the question has been answered.
Businesses that connect intelligent conversations with established payment technology can make it easier for customers to act, while maintaining the security and control that financial transactions demand.
Because when a customer asks, “Can I pay it now?”, the answer shouldn’t be, “You’ll need to go somewhere else.”
Your AI assistant can start the conversation.
Let Encoded help close the transaction.
Explore how Encoded’s Gateway Services, PayByLink and flexible payment technology could support your AI-powered customer journeys.
Build secure payments into your AI journey. Talk to Encoded.
