Clickatell, a pioneer in mobile messaging and global leader in chat commerce, is celebrating its 25th anniversary, marking a quarter-century of transforming how brands interact and transact with their customers.
Founded in Cape Town, South Africa, in 2000, Clickatell made history as the first company to connect businesses on the internet with consumers on mobile phones via SMS, using just four lines of code. Today, it powers AI-driven chat commerce experiences for leading enterprises across banking, retail, travel, telecoms, healthcare and more, trusted by global brands including Fiserv, Ria, Discovery, Absa, Tymebank, Standard bank, FlySafair, Clientèle, Pick n Pay, Massmart (Walmart), MTN, Telkom, Toyota, Europcar, and thousands of additional businesses across the US, Europe, and the Global South markets.
Over 25 years, Clickatell has continued to innovate and introduced a series of industry firsts, including the world’s first tokenized payments in WhatsApp; KYC-compliant chat banking; best-in-class conversational commerce utility use cases; and the launch of Chat-2-Pay in partnership with Visa. Its award-winning, enterprise-grade AI-powered Chat Commerce Platform enables leading consumer brands to interact and transact with customers in the same chat interface they use every day to run their lives.
“From day one, our mission has been to give people back their time,” said Pieter de Villiers, Co-Founder and CEO of Clickatell. “As we celebrate 25 years, we’re proud to continue helping enterprises deliver on this mission by creating trusted, meaningful, and convenient customer experiences in chat. We don’t believe any brand wants to place customers on hold and with Clickatell’s AI-powered Chat Commerce Platform, they don’t have to. A ‘no hold, no app, no friction’ customer-first experience is possible as we enter the age of agentic commerce.”
In addition, Clickatell remains deeply committed to social impact in South Africa, where it was founded and where a large portion of its workforce is based. Through initiatives such as Endeavor SA, SiMODiSA, and The Collective X, the company supports entrepreneurship, equips youth with vital digital skills, and creates pathways for inclusive economic growth.
Looking ahead, Clickatell sees the evolution of its AI-powered Chat Commerce Platform into an agentic commerce layer within organizations, where every customer interaction can lead to a secure transaction, underpinned by convenient, effortless customer experiences.
