Kore.ai is an enterprise agentic and conversational AI platform used to build production AI agents across voice, chat, SMS, web, and social channels. It is especially strong in banking, financial services, healthcare, retail, and telecom, where large organisations use it to automate high-volume customer interactions at scale.
Kore.ai is built to run the conversation and orchestrate the systems already in place. In banking deployments, that often means triggering an institution's existing bill-pay or payment rails through integrations. What Kore.ai does not do is capture or process a card in the call itself. There is no native merchant product, no native payment service provider, and no "take a card during the conversation" capability inside the AI pipeline.
That distinction matters. Orchestrating an existing bill-pay rail is not the same as accepting a new card payment from a caller in a PCI-compliant way. For many use cases, from collections to outbound sales to ad-hoc support payments, you need to take the card there and then.
This guide explains the payment gap, and how Shuttle drops in as the payment layer that adds PCI-compliant in-call card capture, SMS payment links, and routing to 30+ gateways inside a Kore.ai deployment.
The Payment Challenge for Kore.ai
The core problem is simple: card data cannot safely enter the AI pipeline. The moment a caller reads a card number into a Kore.ai voice agent, those digits flow through transcription, logging, and model infrastructure that was never designed to be in scope for cardholder data. That is a serious PCI liability.
Orchestrating an institution's bill-pay rails sidesteps this for known, stored payment methods, but it does not let you accept a new card from a caller in real time. Bill-pay orchestration and in-call card capture are two different jobs.
Building PCI Level 1 capture yourself is expensive and slow. Most teams find it costs $500k+ upfront and $200k+ per year to build and maintain compliant infrastructure, audits included. That is before you have processed a single payment.
Bolting on a separate payment line or "press 1 to be transferred to pay" also breaks the experience. You lose the conversational flow Kore.ai was chosen to deliver, and you add drop-off at the exact moment you want a completed payment.
How Shuttle Integrates with Kore.ai
Your Kore.ai agent handles the conversation as it does today across voice, chat, or SMS.
When it is time to pay, the agent hands off to Shuttle's Voice Checkout for secure capture.
Shuttle collects the card details outside the AI pipeline using PCI-compliant DTMF capture, so digits never reach Kore.ai's transcription or logs.
Shuttle routes the transaction to your chosen gateway from 30+ supported PSPs.
The result is returned to the agent, which confirms the outcome and continues the conversation naturally.
How It Works: Step by Step
The caller reaches a point where payment is needed (a bill, a balance, an order).
The Kore.ai agent confirms the amount and reference.
The agent invokes Shuttle to start a secure payment session.
Shuttle takes over capture without dropping the call.
The caller enters card details via keypad (DTMF), which Shuttle masks in real time.
Card data is tokenised inside Shuttle's PCI Level 1 environment, never touching Kore.ai.
Shuttle routes the payment to your configured gateway.
The authorisation result returns to the Kore.ai agent.
The agent confirms success and continues. The whole capture step typically takes 20 to 30 seconds.
Multi-PSP Support
Shuttle is gateway-neutral and routes to 30+ payment gateways, including:
Stripe
Adyen
Worldpay
Checkout.com
Braintree
Square
Mollie
This matters for Kore.ai's enterprise and banking customers. Many have a mandated acquirer or gateway already in place, and Shuttle routes to it rather than forcing a switch. For platforms and BPOs serving multiple clients, Shuttle supports multi-tenant routing, so each client's payments settle to their own gateway from a single Kore.ai deployment.
PCI Compliance
Shuttle is a PCI DSS Level 1 certified Service Provider, the highest level of compliance. When Shuttle handles capture, cardholder data stays inside Shuttle's certified environment and never enters Kore.ai's voice, chat, or logging systems.
This keeps your Kore.ai deployment out of PCI scope for card capture. In practical terms, it can move you toward an SAQ-A posture (where you never see or store card data) rather than the far heavier SAQ-D obligations that apply when card data flows through your own systems.
Beyond Voice: Payment Links
Not every payment needs to happen mid-call. Shuttle can send an SMS or chat-based payment link directly from a Kore.ai interaction. The agent confirms the amount, Shuttle sends a hosted, PCI-compliant link, and the customer pays on their own device. This is ideal for chat and SMS channels, higher-value transactions, or any case where the customer prefers to enter card details themselves on a secure page.
Use Cases
Bill-Pay and Account Payments
Let customers pay a bill or top up an account in a single Kore.ai conversation, capturing a new card when there is no stored method to orchestrate.
Collections and Payment Plans
Take a payment or set up a plan during outbound or inbound collections calls, with compliant capture and routing to the creditor's mandated gateway.
Customer Support Payments
Handle ad-hoc payments in support flows (a fee, a replacement, an upgrade) without transferring the caller to a separate line.
Outbound Sales
Close and capture payment in the same outbound Kore.ai call, turning a confirmed yes into a completed transaction before the caller hangs up.
FAQ
Does Kore.ai process card payments natively? No. Kore.ai runs the conversation and can orchestrate an institution's existing bill-pay or payment rails through integrations, but it does not capture or process new card payments in the call. Shuttle adds that capability.
How do I take PCI-compliant payments with Kore.ai? Integrate Shuttle. The Kore.ai agent hands off to Shuttle for capture, card data is collected via DTMF outside the AI pipeline inside Shuttle's PCI Level 1 environment, and the result returns to the agent.
**Which payment gateways does Shuttle support?** Shuttle routes to 30+ gateways, including Stripe, Adyen, Worldpay, Checkout.com, Braintree, Square, and Mollie, so you can keep your existing or mandated provider.
**Why not build PCI payment capture ourselves?** You can, but PCI Level 1 infrastructure typically costs $500k+ upfront and $200k+ per year to build and maintain. Shuttle gives you the same capability at $0.20 per transaction with no setup, monthly, or per-seat fees.
Can I take payments on outbound Kore.ai calls? Yes. Shuttle supports both inbound and outbound flows, so your agents can capture payment during outbound collections or sales calls without breaking the conversation.
Related Reading
AI Voice Agent PCI Payments: how PCI-compliant capture works behind any AI voice agent.
Voice Payments: taking secure payments over voice channels.
The Payment Layer for AI Agents: why payments sit as a layer beneath your agent platform.
Cognigy Payments: the same gap-fill approach for another enterprise conversational AI platform.
Contact Centre Payments: payment capture across contact centre and CCaaS deployments.
Add Payments to Your Kore.ai Agents
Shuttle is the payment layer that drops into your Kore.ai deployment, adding PCI-compliant in-call capture, SMS payment links, and routing to 30+ gateways at $0.20 per transaction.
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