Voice payments encompass any payment transaction that is initiated and completed during a telephone call. This includes agent-assisted payments, where a contact centre representative guides the customer through the payment process, and automated payments processed through IVR (Interactive Voice Response) systems without human involvement. Despite the growth of digital payment channels, voice payments remain essential for industries where high-value transactions, complex services, or customer demographics require the trust and immediacy of a phone conversation — sectors like insurance, healthcare, travel, utilities, government services, and luxury retail.
The fundamental challenge of voice payments is security. When a customer reads their card number to an agent or keys it into an IVR system, that cardholder data passes through telephony infrastructure — call recordings, agent workstations, network switches, and potentially third-party communication platforms. Every component that touches that data falls within PCI DSS scope, creating an expansive and expensive compliance surface. Historically, organisations accepting voice payments had to implement rigorous controls across their entire contact centre environment: encrypted call recordings with card data redacted, clean-room agent desktops, segmented networks, and regular penetration testing.
Modern voice payment solutions address this by removing cardholder data from the contact centre environment entirely. The most widely adopted approach uses DTMF masking: the customer enters their card number on their phone’s keypad, the tones are intercepted before they reach the agent or recording system, and the digits are routed directly to a PCI-certified payment processor. The agent stays on the line to assist with the transaction but never hears, sees, or has access to the card data. This descoping technique transforms voice payments from a compliance liability into a manageable, auditable payment channel.
Shuttle Global’s Voice Checkout is purpose-built for secure voice payments. Integrating with telephony platforms like Twilio, Shuttle intercepts DTMF tones during a live call, processes the payment through its PCI DSS Level 1 certified infrastructure, and routes the transaction to the optimal PSP from its network of 40+ providers. Platforms using Voice Checkout can collect payments during any phone interaction — sales calls, customer support, debt collection, appointment booking — without their contact centre environment entering PCI scope. Combined with Shuttle’s Embedded Payments and Payment Links, Voice Checkout gives platforms a genuinely multi-channel payment capability: online, remote, and over the phone, all through a single integration and a single reconciliation surface.