Transaction alert SMS for banks, microfinance and payment services: what to include

The short answer: a transaction alert goes out the instant the operation happens and gives the type of operation, the amount, the masked account, the date and the time, plus what to do if it was not the customer. For banks, microfinance institutions, savings co-operatives and payment services it is also a defence: customers spot an odd operation straight away, not at the end of the month.

What to include, and why

Element	Example	Why
Type of operation	Transfer, withdrawal, deposit, payment	The customer understands at once what happened.
Amount	5,000 USD	It is what they will check.
Masked account	account ***4521	Identifies the account without exposing it.
Date and time	13/11 at 10:42	Lets them recognise the operation.
What to do if it was not them	Not you? Call [PHONE].	A fixed number, published on your website.

A full example, in one part: Transfer of 5,000 USD to account ***4521 completed on 13/11 at 10:42. Not you? Call [PHONE].

What never to include

The SMS shows on the lock screen, and the phone may be in someone else's hands. Never include the full account or card number, the PIN, passwords or codes nobody asked for. The balance needs care too: send it only if the customer asked for it. The full list is in what never to put in a transactional SMS.

Never ask for anything in an alert. An alert informs; it does not ask people to «confirm their details» or carry a link to sign in. That is how customers tell your messages from fake ones: see fake SMS in your company's name.

Through the API, in a busy system

1	Send with your Sender ID. In a financial alert, the institution's name as the sender does a lot for trust. Put it in the sender field.

2	One Idempotency-Key per operation, using the operation identifier. A retry after a dropped connection does not produce two alerts, which would worry the customer.

3	Stay within the request limits. The API accepts a set number of requests per minute, per key and per account; above that it answers 429 with a Retry-After header. Wait that long and retry with the same key.

4	Store each alert's id and status with the operation: it is your record that the customer was told.

Test it all in the Sandbox first. With a sandbox_ key the API checks your requests but sends nothing and uses no credits. See test cases in the Sandbox.

Want to alert every customer the instant each operation happens? See Transactional SMS.

See Transactional SMS

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