By: TONY ZERUCHA
Social network BayPay Forum has released a chatbot based on Facebook Messenger they hope will provide a more conversational experience for its members.
BayPayBot represents a bold step as BayPay Forum skips the mobile app phase in favor of messaging. It allows for quicker navigation through BayPay events without leaving Facebook Messenger. It is fully integrated with BayPay’s CRM that allows for event pricing display based on membership level and other factors determined by the event host.
BayPayForum offers member level content publishing integration, event management, event registration, tickets auction, CRM, email marketing management, integrated payment systems, discounts management and landing page tracking.
“We looked at mobile apps and buy buttons but decided to not become one more dead app in the graveyard of apps that most people still have on their phones,” BayPay Forum managing director Daniel Chatelain said.
“Buy buttons look good from a merchant perspective but it is a one-sided view of commerce. We believe that conversational commerce and chatbots are a more balanced way to go and having BayPayBot available now for the general public will allow us to learn and continue improving the user experience for our members.”
BayPayBot was developed with Ingenico Labs, the innovation arm of Ingenico Group and Ingenico ePayments. Neither BayPay nor Facebook stores credit card numbers.
“At Ingenico, we believe that social commerce is definitely a trend to look at,” Ingenico Group epayments EVP Pierre-Antoine Vacheron said. “And we are convinced that adding payment directly into messaging bots will remove friction from conversational commerce while boosting conversion.”
About Tony Zerucha
Tony Zerucha is managing editor of Bankless Times. "The evolution of the crowdfunding and peer-to-peer lending scenes is absolutely fascinating to chronicle. It is a joy to be around people with such passion and vision."