Airship, the mobile-first customer experience platform, has announced support for Rich Communication Services (RCS), adding a sophisticated, secure, and interactive messaging pipeline to its platform. This major update allows brands to deliver richer, two-way mobile messaging experiences that enhance trust, reduce fraud, and boost business results, all while integrating seamlessly with existing Airship messaging workflows.
The launch comes at a crucial time for marketers as traditional SMS faces growing challenges. According to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, consumers are projected to lose $470 million to text message scams by 2024, while Proofpoint research shows a 2,534% increase in SMS phishing attacks. This surge in fraud and user fatigue is pushing brands to find safer, more engaging ways to connect with customers making RCS a natural evolution of direct messaging.
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RCS modernizes standard SMS communication by offering verified sender identities, branded visuals, and interactive features that create secure and dynamic mobile conversations from within a user’s native messaging app. Messages can display company names, logos, and verification badges to instantly build trust. RCS also supports media-rich elements such as carousels, images, and call-to-action buttons like Buy Now or Add to Calendar. With Apple’s adoption of RCS in iOS 18, this channel is now accessible to a vast global user base across both Android and iPhone devices.
Unlike many providers that depend on separate integrations, Airship has embedded RCS natively into its platform, removing technical barriers and reducing dependency on third-party vendors. This direct integration allows marketers to leverage existing SMS workflows to send RCS messages automatically, with the platform intelligently determining device compatibility and seamlessly falling back to SMS or MMS when needed. Through this unified system, brands can coordinate campaigns across RCS, push notifications, email, mobile wallets, and app content while gaining access to new engagement data, such as read receipts, unavailable through SMS.
“Trust is the currency of today’s digital economy, and its success or failure often hinges on where customers are – on their mobile devices,” said Brett Caine, CEO of Airship. “Adding RCS to our platform gives customers powerful new ways to build trust, deliver the seamless experiences they expect, and accelerate conversion, growth, and long-term loyalty.”
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RCS introduces high-impact opportunities across multiple industries. Retailers can showcase product launches through image carousels and instant purchase links, travel brands can deliver booking reminders and route details, and financial institutions can send verified alerts with one-tap “Report a Problem” options. Loyalty programs can share real-time updates, rewards, and exclusive member offers all through secure, branded communication.
Industry analysts note that RCS adoption is expanding rapidly, particularly following Apple’s iOS 18 update. Global RCS traffic has grown fivefold, with more than 1 billion monthly active users, and surveys show that 75% of consumers prefer RCS over SMS for interactions with brands. With its new RCS capabilities, Airship is positioned to help enterprises keep pace with this trend, transforming mobile messaging into a trusted, high-conversion channel within the omnichannel customer journey.
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