Revive Financial uses two-way SMS to make debt support more accessible

Talking about debt is hard enough. For many people, even asking for financial help can bring up embarrassment, anxiety or a sense of stigma. Revive Financial wanted to make those conversations easier to start — and easier to continue — without adding friction for customers already in a vulnerable position. 

The business provides debt support services for individuals and companies, building personalised plans to help people regain control of their finances. Its team already used a mix of communication channels, including email, phone and an online portal, but knew those options were not always the best fit for sensitive, real-time support. A more direct and less intrusive channel was needed. 

At the same time, Revive Financial needed to stay within tight compliance requirements. Team members could not simply message customers from personal phones, so any SMS solution had to be centralised, trackable and easy to manage at scale. That led the company to Sinch Engage (formerly MessageMedia), with an integration into its existing HubSpot setup.

With Sinch Engage integrated into HubSpot, Revive Financial could send SMS directly from the platform its team already used. That made it easier to build SMS into existing workflows without switching between systems, while also keeping customer communications visible and organised in one place. 

The team used automated SMS workflows to support customers at scale. Rule-based triggers helped nurture customers through the funnel and guide them through difficult processes, while personalised messages made room for more human moments, including financial milestones and seasonal check-ins. In a category where trust matters, those touches helped make communications feel more relevant and supportive.

The biggest shift came from two-way messaging. Instead of relying only on calls or one-way updates, Revive Financial could give customers a simple way to text back and forth with their customer success specialist in real time. That made support feel less formal, less intrusive and more approachable for people who may have been hesitant to discuss debt openly. 

According to Chief Marketing and Digital Officer James O’Neile, that ability to provide support in a less intrusive, real-time manner is something the company’s vulnerable customer base values deeply. For Revive Financial, SMS did more than improve responsiveness — it helped remove some of the barriers that stop people from engaging in financial conversations in the first place.

The results show that customers responded. In one year alone, Revive Financial received more than 9,000 inbound SMS messages, achieved click-through rates of up to 35% and continued to build a strong reputation reflected in more than 2,500 five-star reviews. The company says the integration has helped it deliver a more seamless omnichannel experience while supporting greater volumes of customers in need.