Welcome to the Tearsheet Podcast. I’m Tearsheet editor in chief, Zack Miller.

As chat platforms have eclipsed the size of the largest social networks, businesses are increasingly using them to service their customers. Some financial institutions are even enabled for customers to transact over chat.

Pieter de Villiers, co-founder and CEO of Clickatell, joins me on the podcast to talk about his vision 20 years ago for mobile experiences. Now the firm covers more than 220 territories, 1000 networks, and 85% of the world’s population, with an SMS reach of more than 5 billion users.

Pieter and I talk about banks embracing chat apps, like WhatsApp, to reach their customers. With chat banking, customers can get digital banking customer support, account management, and bill payment services from within chat.

Pieter de Villiers is my guest today on the Tearsheet podcast.