What Are Voice Payments?
Voice payments are transactions completed during a phone call — through an IVR system, a live agent, or an AI voice agent — where card data is captured securely without the business handling or storing it.
The customer stays on the call. They enter card details via keypad tones (DTMF) or speak them aloud. The payment is routed to a gateway, processed, and confirmed — all within the conversation.
What makes voice payments different from a standard card-not-present transaction is the channel. The customer is mid-conversation. They're not redirected to a checkout page. The payment happens inside the voice flow, which creates specific challenges around PCI compliance, audio security, and gateway connectivity that web checkout doesn't face.
Voice payments aren't new. IVR payment lines have existed for decades. What's changed is the context: AI voice agents are now handling millions of conversations, contact centres are under pressure to automate, and platforms are embedding payments into workflows that previously had no payment capture at all.
Why Voice Payments Matter Now
Three forces are converging:
1. Contact centres need to automate payment capture. 59% of consumers still prefer the phone as their primary support channel. But every payment call creates PCI exposure — agents hearing card numbers, call recordings containing sensitive data, and manual processes that don't scale. Automating secure payment capture mid-call removes the compliance burden and frees agents to focus on the conversation.
2. AI voice agents are creating entirely new payment channels. Companies like PolyAI are deploying AI agents that handle hundreds of millions of conversations a year. These agents can qualify, sell, and service customers — but until recently, they couldn't close a payment. Voice payment infrastructure turns AI agents into revenue channels. PolyAI achieved a 75% voice payment completion rate with zero human handoffs.
3. Payments are moving inside software workflows. The checkout page is no longer the only place a payment happens. Payments now occur inside IVR trees, during agent conversations, in AI-driven workflows, and via SMS links sent mid-call. Businesses that can capture payments wherever a conversation happens have a structural advantage over those that force customers to "go online and pay."
Three Models of Voice Payment
Not all voice payments work the same way. The model you choose depends on who's on the call, what level of automation you need, and how you handle PCI scope.
1. IVR Payments (Automated)
The customer calls in and navigates a menu system. When they reach the payment step, the IVR prompts them to enter card details via keypad (DTMF tones). The system captures the digits, processes the transaction, and confirms — all without a human involved.
Best for: High-volume, repeat payments (utility bills, insurance premiums, account top-ups) PCI consideration: DTMF tones must be captured within a PCI-compliant environment and stripped from any recordings or monitoring feeds. Limitation: Clunky customer experience. Limited to predefined flows. No flexibility for complex transactions.
2. Agent-Assisted Payments
A live agent handles the call. When it's time to pay, the call enters a secure payment segment. The customer enters card details via keypad while the agent stays on the line but cannot hear the DTMF tones — they're stripped from the audio stream in real time.
Alternatively, the agent sends a payment link via SMS during the call. The customer completes payment on their device while the conversation continues.
Best for: Sales calls, collections, complex transactions where a human guides the process PCI consideration: The critical requirement is that the agent never hears, sees, or has access to card data. DTMF suppression and audio segmentation are what make this PCI compliant. Advantage: Combines the trust and flexibility of a human conversation with secure, compliant payment capture.
For a deeper look at how contact centres deploy secure voice payments, see PCI-Compliant Payments for Contact Centres.
3. AI Voice Payments (Autonomous)
An AI voice agent handles the entire conversation — including payment. When the customer is ready to pay, the AI agent triggers a secure payment capture flow. Card details are entered via DTMF or a payment link is sent via SMS. The transaction is processed and confirmed within the conversation. No human handoff required.
Best for: AI-first contact centres, autonomous sales agents, high-volume transaction processing PCI consideration: Same as agent-assisted — card data must be captured within a PCI-compliant environment, never processed by the AI model itself. Why this matters: AI voice payments don't replace an existing channel. They create a new one. Businesses that deploy AI agents with payment capability unlock revenue from conversations that previously ended with "please visit our website to pay."
PCI Compliance: The Non-Negotiable
Every voice payment implementation lives or dies on PCI compliance. There is no workaround, no shortcut, and no "we'll deal with it later." If card data touches your infrastructure — even for a moment — you're in scope.
What PCI Compliance Means for Voice
The core principle: Card data must never be heard by agents, stored in recordings, processed by your systems, or accessible through your infrastructure.
In practice, this means:
DTMF tones are stripped from the audio stream before they reach the agent or any recording system
Card data is captured within a PCI-certified environment — not your telephony stack
Only redacted data (last four digits, transaction status) is returned to your systems
Call recordings contain no payment card data
Your PCI scope is reduced to SAQ-A (the lightest self-assessment) rather than SAQ-D (the 300+ requirement audit)
The Cost of Getting It Wrong
PCI DSS Level 1 certification — the kind a voice payment provider needs — typically costs upwards of $2M to achieve and maintain. That includes the annual audit, infrastructure, personnel, and operational controls.
For a platform or contact centre, the question isn't whether you can afford PCI compliance. It's whether you should carry that burden at all, or use a provider whose certification covers the payment segment of the call.
What to Look For
PCI DSS Level 1 Service Provider certification — not Level 2, not self-assessed
DTMF suppression that happens at the telephony layer, not in software post-processing
No card data in your environment — not "minimised exposure," but zero exposure
ISO 27001 and SOC 2 as additional assurance (these cover operational security beyond PCI)
The Multi-PSP Reality
Here's where voice payments get complicated for enterprise businesses.
Most voice payment vendors lock you into a single payment gateway. That works if all your transactions route through one processor. It breaks the moment an enterprise customer says: "We need Worldpay for UK transactions and Stripe for US."
This is the same dynamic playing out across embedded payments — enterprise customers mandate specific PSPs by region, by product line, or by contractual obligation. A voice payment solution that only connects to one gateway becomes a ceiling on your growth.
What Multi-PSP Voice Payments Look Like
A PSP-neutral voice payment layer connects to multiple gateways through a single integration. The platform, contact centre, or AI agent doesn't need to know which gateway processes a given transaction. Routing happens based on rules — geography, transaction type, merchant preference, or failover logic.
This means:
Enterprise customers bring their own PSP and it works
Multi-region operations route to local acquirers for better authorisation rates
Adding a new gateway doesn't require re-engineering your voice payment flow
Gateway failures trigger automatic failover, not dropped payments
For contact centres and platforms serving mid-market and enterprise merchants, PSP flexibility isn't a nice-to-have. It's the difference between winning and losing the account.
AI Voice Payments: The New Frontier
2026 is the year AI agent payments moved from theory to production.
Stripe launched its Agentic Commerce Suite. Google announced AP2 (Agent Payments Protocol) with over 60 partners including Adyen, Mastercard, and PayPal. Worldline connected AI agents to its global payment ecosystem via MCP servers. Visa completed the first voice-enabled agentic payment transaction.
The infrastructure layer is forming. AI agents need the ability to:
Initiate a payment flow within a conversation
Capture card data securely (via DTMF, speech-to-text within a PCI environment, or payment link)
Route the transaction to the right gateway
Confirm the result back to the customer in natural language
The critical point: the AI model itself must never process card data. Payment capture happens in a parallel PCI-compliant environment that the AI agent triggers but doesn't control. The agent handles the conversation. The payment layer handles the money.
Companies like PolyAI — whose AI agents handle hundreds of millions of conversations across regulated industries — are already processing payments this way. The result: fully automated voice payments with a 75% completion rate and zero human handoffs.
This isn't a future state. It's production today.
For a detailed look at how this works in practice, see AI Voice Agents and Payments: How PolyAI Captures Payments in Conversation. For the broader architecture covering both voice and chat, see How AI Agents Process Payments: The Infrastructure Guide.
Payment Methods Over Voice
Voice payments aren't limited to card numbers entered via keypad.
Cards (DTMF)
The most common method. The customer enters card digits via keypad tones during the call. Real-time BIN validation and Luhn checks confirm the card before processing. Supports Visa, Mastercard, Amex, and other major schemes.
Cards (Speech-to-Text)
Customers speak their card details aloud. Speech is converted to text within a PCI-compliant environment — the audio is processed securely, and no card data enters your systems. Emerging capability, but growing fast as speech recognition improves.
ACH & Bank Transfers
Account and routing numbers captured via voice prompts. Supports ACH (US), BACS, and Direct Debit (UK) with real-time validation.
Payment Links & Digital Wallets
When a phone payment isn't practical — or when the customer prefers Apple Pay, Google Pay, or PayPal — a branded payment link is sent via SMS or email during the call. The customer completes payment on their device while the conversation continues. This bridges voice and digital channels seamlessly.
How to Choose a Voice Payment Solution
Not all solutions are built the same. Here's what to evaluate:
1. PCI Certification Level
Ask: Are you PCI DSS Level 1 certified as a Service Provider? Why: Level 1 is the highest certification. Anything less is a risk — especially for enterprise or regulated industries.
2. Gateway Coverage
Ask: How many payment gateways do you support? Can we bring our own PSP? Why: If you serve enterprise customers or operate across regions, single-gateway solutions will limit you.
3. Channel Coverage
Ask: Do you support IVR, agent-assisted, and AI voice? What about SMS payment links? Why: Your needs will evolve. A solution that only handles IVR today won't serve you when you deploy AI agents tomorrow.
4. Carrier Flexibility
Ask: Do I need a specific telephony provider, or is the solution carrier-agnostic? Why: Dependence on a single carrier creates the same lock-in problem as dependence on a single PSP.
5. Integration Complexity
Ask: How long does integration take? What does my team need to build? Why: Pre-built connectors (like a Twilio Marketplace install) can get you live in hours. Custom SIP integrations take longer but offer more flexibility.
6. White-Label Capability
Ask: Can we brand the payment experience? Will our customers know a third party is involved? Why: For platforms embedding voice payments into their product, white-labelling is essential. The end customer should experience your brand, not your payment provider's.
FAQ
What's the difference between voice payments and phone payments? They're often used interchangeably. "Voice payments" is the broader term covering any payment initiated during a voice interaction — IVR, agent-assisted, or AI-driven. "Phone payments" typically refers to the simpler case of paying over a phone call.
Are voice payments PCI compliant? They can be — but only if card data is captured within a PCI-certified environment and never touches your systems. Using a PCI DSS Level 1 certified provider is the most reliable way to ensure compliance.
How long does it take to set up voice payments? Depends on the solution. Pre-built marketplace connectors (like Twilio Pay) can be live within hours. Custom integrations typically take days to a few weeks.
Can AI agents take payments? Yes. AI voice agents can trigger secure payment capture flows during a conversation. The AI handles the dialogue; a PCI-compliant payment layer handles the card data. This is in production today with providers like PolyAI.
Do customers trust paying over the phone? 59% of consumers prefer the phone as their primary support channel. Trust increases when the process is smooth and secure — DTMF capture (keypad entry) is familiar, and SMS payment links offer an alternative for customers who prefer a visual checkout.
What if my customer's gateway isn't supported? This is a common limitation with single-gateway voice payment providers. PSP-neutral solutions that support 16+ gateways avoid this problem — the customer's preferred PSP is supported through a single integration.
Ready to add voice payments? See how Shuttle Voice Checkout connects your IVR, agent, or AI voice flows to 16+ payment gateways with PCI DSS Level 1 compliance — in days, not months.
[Get Started] | [See Voice Checkout]