Automated payment reminders to customers

Purpose

1. Automate the process of sending scheduled or event-driven payment reminders to customers for outstanding invoices, overdue bills, subscriptions, or partial payments.

2. Automates follow-up to reduce manual intervention, lower late payments, and increase payment conversion ratios for general merchandise retail stores.

3. Includes multi-channel automated reminder delivery via SMS, email, WhatsApp, push notifications, or voice calls.

4. Automates escalation of reminders based on time-to-due, payment status, or predetermined business rules.

5. Enables automated record-keeping of communication history with customers for financial reporting and audits.

Trigger Conditions

1. Automatedly triggered by invoice due date proximity (e.g., 7, 3, 1 day(s) before due).

2. Triggered when invoice status updates to “unpaid” or “partially paid”.

3. Automated trigger for recurring/subscription payment cycles.

4. Triggered by failure of previous reminder delivery or failed payment attempt.

5. Manual automation initiation by staff from dashboard when escalation required.

Platform Variants

1. Twilio

— Feature/Setting: Automated SMS reminders using Programmable Messaging API.
— Sample: POST to `/v1/Messages` endpoint with dynamic recipient and reminder content.

2. SendGrid

— Feature/Setting: Automated email reminders using SendGrid’s Mail Send API.
— Sample: POST to `/mail/send` with dynamic template data including customer name, invoice ID, and due date.

3. WhatsApp Business API

— Feature/Setting: Automate WhatsApp message flows using the Messaging endpoint.
— Sample: POST to `/v1/messages` with message template and scheduling condition.

4. Slack

— Feature/Setting: Scheduled reminder messages to internal finance teams using chat.postMessage API.
— Sample: POST to `/chat.postMessage` with invoice details and reminder status.

5. Microsoft Teams

— Feature/Setting: Automated chat notification to user/channel using Teams Graph API.
— Sample: POST to `/v1.0/teams/{team-id}/channels/{channel-id}/messages`.

6. Google Workspace (Gmail)

— Feature/Setting: Auto-email reminders via Gmail API.
— Sample: POST to `/gmail/v1/users/me/messages/send` with customer-specific reminder.

7. Mailgun

— Feature/Setting: Automates bulk email reminders using Batch Send API.
— Sample: POST to `/v3/{domain}/messages`.

8. HubSpot CRM

— Feature/Setting: Workflow automation triggers reminder emails/messages via Workflow API.
— Sample: POST to workflow endpoints mapped to overdue invoices.

9. Salesforce

— Feature/Setting: Automatedly sends reminders using Salesforce Process Builder and Flow Builder.
— Sample: Configure flow for invoice object status change triggering Email Alert.

10. Stripe

— Feature/Setting: Automator for payment reminders using Billing API’s “Upcoming Invoice” webhook.
— Sample: Listen to `invoice.upcoming` and trigger notification.

11. Xero

— Feature/Setting: Automates reminder emails using Xero’s Email API and integrated reminder schedules.
— Sample: PATCH to `/invoices` endpoint and trigger email.

12. QuickBooks Online

— Feature/Setting: Reminders via automated workflows using QuickBooks Automation API.
— Sample: Configure “Send Reminder” action upon overdue status.

13. FreshBooks

— Feature/Setting: Automated customer reminders for unpaid invoices via FreshBooks API.
— Sample: Configure reminders under Clients → Reminders settings.

14. Zoho Books

— Feature/Setting: Auto-reminders for invoice dues using Zoho Books Scheduler.
— Sample: Set up email schedules linked to “Invoices” module.

15. Pipedrive

— Feature/Setting: Automates notifications to customer or sales agent with custom workflow automation.
— Sample: API to trigger action on deal or invoice objects.

16. MessageBird

— Feature/Setting: Automated SMS/WhatsApp reminders using Conversation API.
— Sample: POST to `/v1/send` endpoint.

17. ActiveCampaign

— Feature/Setting: Use Automations to send sequence-based payment reminders via Email/SMS.
— Sample: Drag reminder emails in “Automation” builder connected to payment status field.

18. Gmail SMTP

— Feature/Setting: Standardized reminder email automation via SMTP relay.
— Sample: Connect to `smtp.gmail.com` and trigger emails through system scheduler.

19. Amazon SES

— Feature/Setting: Bulk reminder campaign via SES API email send action.
— Sample: POST to `SendEmail` API call.

20. Zapier

— Feature/Setting: Automatedly connects triggers from invoice apps to email/SMS senders.
— Sample: “Trigger: Invoice overdue” → “Action: Send Gmail Email.”

21. Brevo (formerly Sendinblue)

— Feature/Setting: Email/SMS workflow automation via Campaigns API.
— Sample: Use Workflow Builder to send reminders on schedule or based on trigger event.

22. ClickSend

— Feature/Setting: Bulk or scheduled SMS reminders through SMS API.
— Sample: POST to `/v3/sms/send`.

23. Pabbly

— Feature/Setting: Multi-app workflow automation for reminders across channels.
— Sample: Set invoice trigger and connect with SMS/Email actions.

Benefits

1. Saves time by automating repetitive manual payment reminders.

2. Reduces human error and automates escalation for unpaid invoices.

3. Improves cash flow through faster, automated payment collection.

4. Ensures consistent, compliant, and automated communication.

5. Enables automated tracking, reporting, and analytics on reminder effectiveness.

6. Centralizes payment follow-ups, allowing large volumes to be processed in parallel by the automation engine.

7. Creates a scalable, automatable process to handle seasonal surges without extra hiring.