Insurance Runs on Phone Calls. Phone Calls Don't Run on Payments.
Insurance is one of the last industries where the phone is still the dominant customer channel. Renewals, claims, policy changes, new quotes — customers call in. In the UK alone, insurers handle over 100 million customer calls annually.
Every one of those calls is a potential payment moment. A renewal that could be confirmed and paid. A claims excess that could be collected. A policy adjustment that generates an additional premium. A new quote that could convert to a sale.
But most of those payment moments are wasted.
The agent discusses the amount, confirms the customer wants to pay, and then says: "I'll send you a link by email" or "You can pay on our website." The customer hangs up, intending to pay later. Some do. Many don't. Renewal rates drop. Collections extend. Revenue sits in limbo.
The alternative — agents taking card numbers verbally — is worse. It works operationally but creates PCI exposure across the entire telephony environment. Call recordings contain card data. Agent workstations are in scope. The compliance cost alone can exceed $2M annually.
AI voice agents change both sides of this equation. They handle the conversation and capture the payment — without a human agent ever touching card data.
What AI Voice Payments Look Like in Insurance
An AI voice agent handles the entire interaction. Here's a renewal call:
The phone rings. The AI agent answers: "Good morning, this is Acme Insurance. How can I help?"
Customer: "I got a letter about my home insurance renewal. Policy HI-2847291."
AI Agent: "I've found your policy. Your renewal quote is £342.50 for the year, with the same cover level as last year. Would you like to renew now?"
Customer: "Yes, that's fine."
AI Agent: "I can take your payment now. Please enter your 16-digit card number using your phone keypad."
The customer types their card number on the keypad. The DTMF tones are intercepted by the PCI-certified payment layer — stripped from the audio stream before they reach the AI model or any recording system. The agent prompts for expiry and CVV. Each entry is captured securely.
AI Agent: "Thank you. I'm processing your payment of £342.50 now."
The payment layer validates the card, routes the transaction to the insurer's configured PSP (Worldpay, in this case), and processes the payment. A result is returned to the AI agent via API.
AI Agent: "Your payment has been processed. Policy HI-2847291 is renewed through 15 March 2027. You'll receive a confirmation by email. Is there anything else I can help with?"
Total call duration: under 3 minutes. Human involvement: none. Card data in the insurer's systems: none.
Why Insurance Needs This Now
Renewal Rates Are Under Pressure
The moment between "your renewal is due" and "payment received" is where insurers lose customers. Every friction point in that gap — logging into a portal, navigating a website, calling back during business hours — reduces the probability of renewal.
AI voice agents compress that gap to zero. The customer calls about their renewal (or the AI calls them), the amount is confirmed, and payment happens in the same conversation. No second step. No follow-up email. No "I'll do it later."
For insurers processing millions of renewals annually, even a small improvement in renewal completion rates translates to significant premium retention.
Contact Centre Costs Are Escalating
Insurance contact centres are expensive to run. Agent salaries, training, compliance monitoring, quality assurance — and a significant portion of call volume is routine payment collection that doesn't require human judgement.
AI voice agents handle these calls at a fraction of the cost. Renewals, top-ups, instalment payments, excess collection — all automatable. The human agents focus on complex claims, complaints, and high-value conversations where empathy and expertise matter.
Regulatory Scrutiny on PCI Is Increasing
The FCA, PRA, and insurance regulators are increasingly focused on data handling practices. PCI non-compliance isn't just a payment industry problem — it's a regulatory risk that can trigger broader supervisory action.
AI voice payments with proper architecture (card data captured in a PCI-certified environment, never entering the insurer's systems) provide a clean compliance posture. The insurer's PCI scope for voice payments drops to SAQ-A. Auditors can see exactly where card data flows and where it doesn't.
The Phone Isn't Going Away
Despite digital transformation efforts, insurance customers continue to prefer the phone for complex interactions. Policy questions, claims, renewals with coverage changes — these conversations benefit from dialogue, not forms.
The question isn't whether to invest in phone-based customer service. It's whether those phone interactions can also capture payments efficiently and compliantly. AI voice agents make the answer yes.
Insurance Payment Scenarios
Premium Renewals (Inbound and Outbound)
Inbound: Customer calls about a renewal notice. AI agent confirms the quote, answers questions about coverage, and captures payment.
Outbound: AI agent calls customers approaching renewal date. "Hi, this is Acme Insurance calling about your home insurance renewal due on 28 February. Your renewal quote is £342.50 — would you like to renew now?"
Outbound AI calls for renewals are a significant opportunity. Most insurers send letters and emails. Few call proactively. An AI agent that calls, confirms, and collects payment in a single interaction can dramatically improve renewal rates.
Claims Excess Collection
A policyholder calls to report a claim. The AI agent captures claim details, confirms the excess amount, and collects it during the same call. No separate payment step. No delay waiting for an invoice. The excess is paid before the claim begins processing.
Instalment Payments
Monthly premium instalments fail — cards expire, insufficient funds, account changes. AI voice agents can handle failed payment follow-up: call the customer, confirm the outstanding amount, capture an updated card, and re-establish the payment schedule. Automated, PCI-compliant, and faster than waiting for a customer to respond to a dunning email.
Mid-Term Adjustments
A policyholder adds a driver, increases coverage, or changes their vehicle. The adjustment generates an additional premium. The AI agent can calculate (or retrieve) the adjustment amount and collect it during the same call — closing the loop immediately.
New Business Quote-to-Bind
An AI chat or voice agent handles a new business enquiry, presents a quote, and when the customer accepts, captures payment to bind the policy. This is the highest-value scenario — converting a quote to a paying policy in a single interaction with zero human involvement.
For how this works on chat channels, see Chat Agent Payments: How AI Closes Sales Without a Human Handoff.
The Architecture for Insurance
Insurance AI voice payments require a specific architecture. Generic payment APIs — designed for web checkout — don't work.
PCI-Certified DTMF Capture
Card data is entered via the customer's phone keypad. DTMF tones are captured within a PCI DSS Level 1 certified environment and stripped from the audio stream. The AI model, call recordings, analytics systems, and the insurer's infrastructure never see raw card data.
This is the mechanism that keeps the insurer out of PCI scope. Without it, every system that touches the audio stream is a PCI surface.
PSP-Neutral Routing
Enterprise insurers mandate their PSP. Carrier A uses Worldpay. Carrier B uses Adyen. Carrier C uses a regional acquirer mandated by their treasury team.
The payment layer must route each transaction to the correct PSP based on the insurer's configuration — without the AI agent or the platform needing to know which gateway is processing a given payment. This is handled through a single integration to a PSP-neutral layer that supports 40+ gateways.
For insurance platforms serving multiple carriers (like INSTANDA), this is non-negotiable. See Payments for Insurance Platforms for the broader platform perspective.
Tokenisation for Recurring Payments
A card captured during an AI voice call should produce a reusable token. That token is used for future instalment payments, renewal auto-collection, and cross-channel transactions (if the customer later pays via web or payment link). One capture, multiple uses.
SMS Payment Link Fallback
Not every customer will use their keypad. For customers who prefer a visual checkout, the AI agent sends a branded payment link via SMS during the call: "I've just sent a payment link to your mobile. You can complete payment there while we're on the line."
The customer pays on their device. The result is returned to the AI agent. The conversation continues.
Compliance Documentation
Regulated insurers need audit trails. The payment layer must provide clear documentation of: where card data was captured, which PCI-certified environment processed it, which PSP handled the transaction, and confirmation that no card data entered the insurer's systems. This documentation supports FCA, PRA, and PCI audit requirements.
The PolyAI Proof Point
This isn't theoretical. AI voice agents are processing payments in regulated industries today.
PolyAI — whose AI voice agents handle hundreds of millions of conversations across insurance, financial services, and utilities — uses Shuttle as their payment infrastructure layer. The results:
75% voice payment completion rate — customers who are asked to pay, do
Zero human handoffs — the AI handles the entire conversation including payment
Multi-PSP support — each enterprise customer's preferred gateway is supported
PCI DSS Level 1 compliance — card data never enters PolyAI's or the enterprise's systems
"Shuttle let us treat legacy payment providers as a modern SaaS service. It enabled us to support the gateways our customers required and fully automate high-value transactions across regulated industries." — Nathan Liu, PolyAI
For the full technical deep dive on PolyAI's architecture, see AI Voice Agents and Payments: How PolyAI Captures Payments in Conversation.
What to Evaluate
If you're an insurer, MGA, or insurance platform evaluating AI voice payment infrastructure:
PCI DSS Level 1 certification — the payment capture environment must be certified at the highest level. Insurance regulators will ask.
PSP flexibility — can your enterprise carriers bring their own PSP? 40+ gateway support through a single integration prevents lock-in.
DTMF capture quality — tone suppression must happen at the telephony layer, not in post-processing. Real-time masking ensures clean call recordings.
Tokenisation — cards captured via voice should produce tokens usable across channels and for recurring payments.
SMS fallback — payment links sent mid-call for customers who prefer visual checkout.
Compliance documentation — audit-ready data flows showing exactly where card data was captured and processed. ISO 27001 and SOC 2 alongside PCI DSS Level 1.
Integration speed — weeks, not months. Insurance platforms can't afford 12-month payment infrastructure projects.
FAQ
Can AI voice agents handle complex insurance payment scenarios? Yes. AI voice agents can process renewals, collect claims excesses, handle instalment payments, and capture mid-term adjustment premiums. The AI manages the conversation; the payment layer handles the transaction. Complex scenarios like multi-policy renewals or split payments are handled through the AI's conversational logic.
Is this compliant with FCA and insurance regulations? The payment architecture is designed for regulated industries. Card data is captured in a PCI DSS Level 1 certified environment and never enters the insurer's systems. The insurer's PCI scope drops to SAQ-A. Compliance documentation supports FCA, PRA, and PCI audit requirements.
What about customers who don't want to pay over the phone? The AI agent sends a branded payment link via SMS. The customer completes payment on their device — using cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay, or bank transfer — while the conversation continues. This bridges voice and digital channels.
How does this work with existing contact centre infrastructure? AI voice payment infrastructure integrates with existing telephony — Twilio, SIP-based carriers, and major CCaaS platforms. It doesn't require replacing your phone system. It sits alongside your existing infrastructure, adding payment capture capability to AI-handled calls.
What completion rates can we expect? PolyAI achieves a 75% voice payment completion rate with zero human handoffs in production deployments across regulated industries. Rates vary by scenario, but the key driver is capturing payment at the moment of intent — during the conversation, not after.
Automate insurance payment collection — without the compliance burden. See how Shuttle connects AI voice agents to 40+ payment gateways with PCI DSS Level 1 compliance, DTMF capture, tokenisation, and multi-currency support. Live in weeks.
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