Thoughtly is an AI voice, SMS, and email agent platform built for revenue and GTM teams. Businesses in insurance, mortgage, home services, and outbound sales use Thoughtly to run inbound and outbound call campaigns, qualify leads, book appointments, and follow up across channels, all without a human agent on every call. The platform is designed to handle the conversational layer: generating natural dialogue, routing calls, and integrating with CRMs and scheduling tools.
What Thoughtly does not handle is cardholder data. Its Terms of Service classify PCI DSS cardholder data as "Excluded Data", a category Thoughtly's terms say customers must not provide. If you want a Thoughtly agent to collect a card payment during a call, you need a compliant payment layer that keeps the card data entirely outside the Thoughtly environment. Running card numbers through a platform whose terms exclude cardholder data would bring every component of that call into PCI scope, creating an audit and liability surface most businesses cannot accept.
This guide is for revenue teams, MSPs, and solution providers building on Thoughtly who need to add card capture to voice, SMS, or email workflows. It covers how Shuttle sits alongside Thoughtly to handle the payment step, which gateways are supported, and what the compliance picture looks like for each channel.
The Payment Challenge for Thoughtly Agents
Thoughtly's payment-adjacent feature is an Acuity Scheduling integration. When an agent books an appointment through Acuity, Acuity's own checkout flow (backed by Stripe) can collect a deposit. That is Acuity taking the payment, not Thoughtly. The card data goes into Acuity's environment, Acuity handles the PCI obligations, and Thoughtly remains uninvolved in the transaction. It is a useful scheduling feature, but it is not a general-purpose payment capability inside the voice agent itself.
For anything beyond appointment deposits, such as outbound collections, in-call purchase conversion, bill payment or deposit-on-closing-call for home services, there is no native path. Thoughtly does not capture card data over voice (where callers key in card digits using their keypad), and it has no hosted payment link generation built into its agent flows. Building that capability directly on the Thoughtly platform would require handling raw card data in an environment outside the PCI DSS controls framework, which Thoughtly's own Terms advise against.
The practical answer is to keep Thoughtly doing what it does well, running the conversation, and hand off the payment step to a dedicated, certified payment layer. Shuttle is a PCI DSS Level 1 Service Provider built for exactly this hand-off, across voice, SMS, and email channels.
How Shuttle Works With Thoughtly Today
Be clear about the model first, because it determines whether Shuttle is a fit:
There is no native Thoughtly integration today. Shuttle's voice payment capture runs on Twilio Pay. You invoke that Twilio-based setup; you do not install a Shuttle app inside Thoughtly.
You need to be a Twilio customer to use voice capture with Shuttle.
You need technical resource to implement it. Shuttle ships ready-made interfaces for payment links and the PCI-compliant capture, IVR and APIs for voice, but you build the agent-side interface for your own Thoughtly workflow, because every agent setup is different. There is no pre-built Shuttle widget for Thoughtly.
Shuttle works with Twilio today, and any carrier coming soon.
If you have the technical resource and are (or can be) a Twilio customer, the payment step works in five stages, without card data ever entering the Thoughtly environment:
The Thoughtly agent runs the conversation. Lead qualification, objection handling and payment intent confirmation all stay inside Thoughtly's voice or messaging workflow.
The agent triggers Shuttle at the payment moment. When the caller or contact agrees to pay, the workflow hands off to Shuttle via the interface you build against its APIs. For SMS and email threads, the agent sends a Shuttle-generated hosted payment link, including mid-call to a caller still on the line.
The card is captured securely. On voice, the card is captured in a secure, PCI DSS Level 1 call via Twilio Pay: the caller keys in card digits on their keypad and the digits pass from Twilio Pay to Shuttle's PCI DSS Level 1 environment, never reaching the Thoughtly call recording or transcript. On SMS or email, the customer completes payment on a Shuttle-hosted page. Either way, card data never touches Thoughtly.
Shuttle sends the payment to your gateway. Shuttle's Pay Connector works with 30+ voice-capable gateways and sends the transaction to the gateway configured for that client or business unit.
Shuttle returns the result to Thoughtly. A confirmation webhook notifies the Thoughtly workflow of success or failure. The agent can then confirm the transaction, schedule a follow-up, or route the call accordingly.
This architecture is consistent with Thoughtly's Excluded Data terms. Card data is captured through Twilio Pay and passed through Shuttle's PCI DSS Level 1 environment to your gateway; any saved card stays with that gateway. Thoughtly sees only the outcome. One honest caveat: the secure capture at the point of payment is what's live now via Twilio Pay. Shuttle handles the payment segment of the call, not the whole conversation. Returning the caller to the same agent and call after payment works today: you program the return route in your Twilio flow and pass a conversation ID, so the agent resumes with context. Shuttle works with Twilio today, and any carrier coming soon.
Multi-PSP Support
Shuttle connects to 30+ gateways, including Stripe, Adyen, Worldpay Access, and Checkout.com. You are not locked to a single provider. Key capabilities for multi-tenant platforms and agencies:
Per-tenant gateways. Each client or business unit can have its own gateway. An insurance agency running Thoughtly for three carriers can run each carrier's payments on its own gateway without building separate integrations.
Failover. If a primary gateway goes offline, you can move the affected payment types to another connected gateway. There is no automatic failover, and saved cards stay with the gateway that stored them, so repeat payments on stored cards will not run through the second one.
BYO gateway. If your client already has a negotiated rate on a compatible gateway, Shuttle can connect to it. Switching gateways later is configuration, not a re-integration, though saved cards stay with the gateway that stored them.
One voice caveat: a few gateways (for example Braintree) don't permit raw card data to be passed to them, so they don't work for voice capture, though they do work for payment links.
For MSPs and agencies building on Thoughtly, this means you can offer payment capability as part of your implementation without building the compliance infrastructure yourself.
PCI Compliance
Shuttle is a PCI DSS Level 1 Service Provider, the highest certification tier. That matters for what it does to your compliance obligations:
Thoughtly's PCI scope is limited. Card data never enters the Thoughtly environment.
Your merchant obligation shrinks. Businesses that use a Level 1 Service Provider for all card capture and processing can typically complete a lighter questionnaire such as SAQ-A, depending on their setup.
Secure capture protects recordings. Because the card is captured in the secure Twilio Pay call, recordings and transcripts produced by Thoughtly will not contain card numbers, expiry dates, or CVVs.
If you are building on Thoughtly for a regulated sector (insurance, financial services, healthcare billing), the ability to point auditors at a Level 1 service provider certificate for the payment step simplifies compliance conversations.
Beyond Voice: Payment Links
Thoughtly's SMS channel pairs naturally with Shuttle's hosted payment links. When a Thoughtly SMS agent reaches the payment moment, such as a quote accepted, a booking confirmed or an invoice chased, it can send a Shuttle payment link directly in the message thread. The customer taps the link, completes payment on a Shuttle-hosted, PCI-compliant page, and the result is returned to Thoughtly via webhook.
This is particularly useful for:
Follow-up collections after an outbound voice call that did not convert in-call.
Quote-to-purchase flows where the customer wants to review before paying.
Home services deposit collection where the job is booked by voice but the customer prefers to pay by link.
Links are the most turnkey part of Shuttle. They support the same per-client gateway setup and webhook confirmation as the voice capture flow, and also work with gateways that don't support voice capture.
Use Cases
Outbound Sales
Outbound Thoughtly agents for subscription sales, insurance renewals, or SaaS upsells can close the transaction in the same call. When the prospect agrees to purchase, the agent hands off to Shuttle's secure Twilio Pay capture. The sale is completed without a callback, a separate checkout page, or a human agent picking up.
Bill-Pay and Collections
Debt collection and accounts receivable teams use Thoughtly to run outbound payment reminder campaigns. Shuttle adds the ability to take the card payment in the same call, or send a payment link via SMS for customers who prefer not to key in card details over voice. For regulated sectors, capturing the card in the secure Twilio Pay call keeps call recordings clean.
Bookings and Deposits
For home services, mortgage brokers, and field sales teams, a Thoughtly agent qualifies the lead, books the appointment, and then prompts for a deposit via Shuttle's secure Twilio Pay capture, all before the call ends. This is distinct from the Acuity Scheduling integration, which collects deposits through Acuity's own checkout and only after an appointment is confirmed in that system.
Lead Qualification to Purchase
Revenue teams using Thoughtly to score and qualify inbound leads can extend the workflow into purchase. Once a lead crosses a qualification threshold, the agent transitions directly into payment collection rather than routing to a human rep.
FAQ
Does Thoughtly process payments natively?
No. Thoughtly's Terms of Service classify PCI DSS cardholder data as "Excluded Data", data Thoughtly's terms say customers must not provide. There is no native voice card capture, no hosted payment link generation, and no PCI-certified payment processing built into the platform.
Does Shuttle have a native Thoughtly integration?
Not today. Shuttle's voice capture runs on Twilio Pay, and you invoke that setup rather than installing a Shuttle app in Thoughtly. You need to be a Twilio customer and to build the agent-side interface for your workflow. Shuttle works with Twilio today, and any carrier coming soon.
Does this require Twilio?
Yes, today, for voice. The secure card capture runs via Twilio Pay, where Shuttle is Twilio's chosen provider to enable Twilio Pay for many payment gateways, so voice capture needs you to be a Twilio customer. Payment links do not require Twilio. Shuttle works with Twilio today, and any carrier coming soon.
How do I take PCI-compliant payments on Thoughtly?
Use a dedicated payment layer like Shuttle with your Thoughtly deployment. Card capture runs on a secure Twilio Pay call on voice, or on hosted links on SMS/email. Shuttle sends the payment to your gateway and returns the result to Thoughtly via webhook. Card data never enters the Thoughtly environment.
Which gateways does Shuttle support?
Shuttle connects to 30+ gateways, including Stripe, Adyen, Worldpay Access, and Checkout.com. Per-tenant gateway setup and BYO gateway are supported, and switching gateways is configuration, not a re-integration, though saved cards stay with the gateway that stored them. A few gateways (for example Braintree) don't work for voice capture but do work for links.
Can I build payment capture into Thoughtly myself?
You build the agent-side interface against Shuttle's APIs, but Shuttle connects the captured card to your gateway, which limits your PCI scope. Using a certified Level 1 Service Provider like Shuttle reduces your audit surface. You can prototype against Shuttle's sandbox gateway and demo app first.
Does this work for outbound calls?
Yes. Shuttle's secure Twilio Pay capture works on both inbound and outbound calls. For outbound campaigns where a customer prefers not to key in details over voice, Shuttle can generate a payment link and Thoughtly can send it via SMS in the same session.
Related Reading
The Payment Layer for AI Agents: how a dedicated payment layer fits into AI voice and agentic workflows across platforms.
AI Voice Agent PCI Payments: a technical deep dive into PCI scope, DTMF suppression, and what certification means for voice deployments.
Voice Payments: an overview of in-call payment methods, gateway support, and channel architecture.
Bland AI Payments: the same gap-fill approach applied to Bland AI voice agents.
Retell AI Payments: how Shuttle adds PCI-compliant card capture to Retell voice agents.
Add Payments to Your Thoughtly Agents
Shuttle is a PCI DSS Level 1 Service Provider that adds compliant card capture to a Thoughtly operation across voice, SMS, and email, on Twilio today. Connect to 30+ gateways via a single integration. There are no per-seat costs. Voice pricing is $49 per live instance per month, plus from $0.20 per transaction, falling with volume, billed through your Twilio account, with no gateway lock-in.
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