Should consumers be charged to opt-out of direct SMS marketing?
SMS continues to grow in popularity as the marketing channel of choice among marketers wanting to guarantee that their target market receives their communication. The fact that SMS has a remarkable read rate of 98% makes it’s the channel of choice.
Taking this into consideration it is understandable why the insurance and finance industry rely on SMS to get their message across.
When you receive SMS marketing and want to stop receiving these messages, you can reply with the word “STOP”. This message should be free.
The Consumer Protection Act (CPA) requires direct marketing companies to provide a mechanism for recipients to opt-out at no cost from these direct marketing messages.
The WASPA Code of Conduct states that “a member may not charge a consumer a fee for processing an opt-out request or for registering a pre-emptive block”.
It is therefore of concern that many companies which use SMS marketing do not offer consumers the free opt-out SMS.
Sending a STOP SMS will typically cost subscribers between 50c and 80c per SMS, which is in contravention of the CPA.
“By educating the public that they shouldn’t pay to opt-out of SMS communication, consumers can place pressure on organisations who are charging consumers, to stop this unlawful behaviour,” advises Charles Stretch, SMSPortal CEO.
“These charges can be easily go unnoticed by Pay-As-You-Go users and those without itemised billing.”
WASPs (Wireless Application Service Providers) do have the option to use a reverse-billing channel, which means the company instead of the consumer will foot the bill for an opt-out SMS.
Many industry players have spoken out about this practice, which should come to an end in South Africa, they said.
SMSPortal CEO Charles Stretch said free opt-out SMS messages are not only best business practice, but are a WASPA, CPA, and POPI requirement.
“At SMSPortal we continue to encourage our clients not to bill users for opting out of SMS,” said Stretch.
