Freshdesk Contact Center (formerly Freshcaller) gives your team cloud voice and a PBX you can provision in-platform, while Freshchat handles messaging and Freshdesk handles ticketing. Bundled as Freshdesk Omni, the Freshworks suite runs the conversations, but it does not process card payments natively. When a customer wants to pay during a call or a chat, you need a separate layer to capture and process that payment securely.
The common route today is the PCI Pal Payments app from the Freshworks Marketplace, which uses DTMF masking with a speech fallback so card data is never seen or heard by the agent. That is a solid, well-established option. This guide covers an alternative for merchants who want broader gateway choice: a payment layer that takes PCI-compliant payments across Freshdesk Contact Center voice and Freshchat, with 40+ gateways, bring-your-own-gateway support, and per-client routing.
It is written for two readers: merchants taking payments inside their Freshworks contact centre, and System Integrators implementing Freshworks deployments who need to add payment capture for their clients.
The Payment Challenge in Freshdesk Contact Center
The moment a customer reads a card number aloud on a Freshcaller call, that data enters your voice path and, if you record calls, your recordings. Both fall inside PCI DSS scope. The same applies to card details typed into a Freshchat thread. Once cardholder data touches your systems, the controls, audits, and evidence required to stay compliant expand sharply.
Freshworks does not capture or process card payments natively, so the contact centre alone cannot handle a transaction end to end. You can keep recordings clean with a tool like the Voicebase PCI redaction app, but redaction after the fact is not the same as taking a payment securely in the first place.
Building a Level 1 compliant payment capability yourself is expensive. Achieving PCI DSS Level 1 certification typically runs into hundreds of thousands of pounds in initial build, often quoted above $500k, with $200k or more in ongoing annual assessment, tooling, and audit costs. For most merchants and SIs, integrating a certified payment layer is the faster and cheaper path. See our explainer on PCI DSS and PCI scope for the underlying detail.
How Shuttle Adds Payment Capture to Freshworks
Shuttle is the payment layer that sits alongside your Freshworks contact centre and handles the transaction so card data never enters your scope.
In-call DTMF capture on voice. During a Freshdesk Contact Center call, the customer keys their card number on their phone keypad. The tones are masked so the agent never hears or sees the digits, and the call continues normally.
Freshchat payments. For messaging conversations, the agent sends a secure payment request inside the chat so the customer pays without exposing card data in the thread.
Certified processing. Card data flows directly to Shuttle's PCI DSS Level 1 environment and on to your chosen gateway, never landing in Freshworks.
Real-time confirmation. The agent sees an approved or declined result in real time and can continue the conversation without leaving the workflow.
**Gateway choice.** You route each transaction to any of 40+ supported payment gateways, including the gateway or merchant account you already use.
How It Works
Agent workflow
The agent stays on the Freshcaller call or in the Freshchat conversation throughout. When it is time to pay, the agent triggers the payment, confirms the amount with the customer, and prompts them to enter their card details. On voice, the customer keys digits via DTMF; the agent hears masked tones only. The agent watches for the approved result and confirms it to the customer. No card data is ever read aloud, typed by the agent, or written to a ticket.
Customer experience
The customer never leaves the call or chat. On voice, they enter their card number, expiry, and security code on their phone keypad, guided by the agent. In Freshchat, they complete payment through a secure prompt. They get an immediate confirmation, the same interaction they expect from any modern contact centre, without being transferred to an IVR or a separate line.
Multi-PSP Support
Shuttle is gateway-neutral, which matters most when you process across multiple merchant accounts or clients.
**40+ payment gateways** supported, including Stripe, Adyen, Worldpay, Checkout.com, Braintree, and Square. See the full list on the PSP page.
Bring your own gateway. Keep your existing processor and pricing; Shuttle adds the capture layer on top.
Per-client routing. Route each client, brand, or merchant account to its own gateway from a single integration, which is essential for BPOs and agencies running many accounts.
One layer across channels. The same payment layer covers Freshcaller voice and Freshchat, so you are not stitching together separate tools per channel.
PCI Compliance
Shuttle is a PCI DSS Level 1 certified Service Provider, the highest level of certification. Because card data never enters your Freshworks environment, your contact centre stays out of scope.
In practice this can move your compliance burden from SAQ-D, the most demanding self-assessment questionnaire that applies when you store, process, or transmit card data, toward SAQ-A, the lightest version for merchants who fully outsource cardholder data handling. The exact SAQ that applies depends on your setup, but descoping the contact centre is the single biggest lever. See PCI scope for how this works.
Beyond Voice: Payment Links
Not every payment happens live on a call. Shuttle also supports hosted payment links your agents can send by SMS, email, or inside a Freshchat thread. The customer pays on a secure hosted page, the result flows back to your records, and no card data touches your systems. This covers follow-up balances, deposits, and any case where the customer prefers to pay in their own time.
For Solution Providers and Freshworks Implementation Partners
Freshworks has one of the strongest partner ecosystems for adding capability to a deployment. The Freshworks Marketplace (freshworks.com/apps) lists apps that extend Freshdesk, Freshcaller, and Freshchat, and the Freshworks Technology Partner Program lets developers and SIs build apps with Freshworks developer tools and list them on the Marketplace for free.
For SIs, Shuttle is the payment layer you add to Freshworks deployments. You integrate certified payment capture into your client's Freshdesk Contact Center and Freshchat workflows, route each client to their own gateway, and deliver PCI-compliant payments without taking on Level 1 build yourself. Whether you list a packaged app on the Marketplace via the Technology Partner Program or wire Shuttle into a bespoke deployment, payments become a repeatable part of your Freshworks implementation rather than a custom project every time. See our guide for CCaaS implementation partners for the full SI playbook.
Use Cases
Bill-Pay and Collections
Customers settle invoices, overdue balances, or payment-plan instalments live on a Freshcaller call, with DTMF capture keeping the agent and recordings out of scope.
Order Taking and Support Payments
Support agents take payment for an order, upgrade, or add-on without transferring the customer or breaking the conversation.
Account Payments
Account-management teams collect top-ups, renewals, or subscription payments inside the same Freshworks workflow they already use.
Bookings and Deposits
Take a deposit or full booking payment during the call or chat, then send a payment link for any balance due later.
FAQ
Does Freshdesk process payments natively? No. Freshworks does not capture or process card payments natively. The common route is the PCI Pal Payments app from the Freshworks Marketplace, which uses DTMF masking. Shuttle is an alternative payment layer if you want 40+ gateways and per-client routing.
How do I take PCI-compliant payments in Freshdesk? Add a certified payment layer like Shuttle. During a Freshcaller call the customer enters card details via masked DTMF, or pays through a secure prompt in Freshchat. Card data flows to Shuttle's PCI DSS Level 1 environment, never into Freshworks, keeping your contact centre out of scope.
**Which payment gateways does Shuttle support?** 40+ gateways, including Stripe, Adyen, Worldpay, Checkout.com, Braintree, and Square. You can bring your own gateway and route each client to a different one. See the PSP page.
Should I build PCI Level 1 capture myself instead? For almost all merchants and SIs, no. A Level 1 build typically exceeds $500k upfront plus $200k or more annually. Integrating a certified layer is faster and far cheaper.
Can I take outbound payments too? Yes. The same DTMF capture works on outbound Freshcaller calls for collections and proactive bill-pay, and you can send payment links for customers to pay after the call.
Related Reading
Contact centre payments: the hub guide covering PCI-compliant payments across every major contact centre platform.
Embedded payments for CCaaS: how the payment layer model works across cloud contact centre platforms.
AI voice agent PCI payments: taking compliant payments through automated and AI-assisted voice.
Payment collection for BPOs: multi-client routing and collections workflows for outsourcers.
Payments for CCaaS implementation partners: the SI playbook for adding payments to contact centre deployments.
Take Payments in Your Freshdesk Contact Center
Add PCI-compliant payment capture to Freshdesk Contact Center and Freshchat with 40+ gateways, bring-your-own-gateway support, and per-client routing. Pricing is $0.20 per transaction with no setup, monthly, or per-seat fees. See the pricing page for detail.
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