Brand
The Brazilian contactless payments company sent utility messages on WhatsApp to remind customers to renew their toll road tags, resulting in a 2.1X increase in customer response rate at a 22% lower cost than SMS.*
2.1X
Increase in customer response rate compared to SMS*
22%
Lower cost compared to SMS*
65%
Open rate*
*Results are self-reported and not identifiably repeatable. Generally expected individual results will differ.
Their Story
Contactless toll payments
Sem Parar is the only company in Brazil that offers contactless payment solutions for all toll roads throughout the country, as well as many gas stations, parking lots, drive-through restaurants and car washes. Sem Parar provides customers with vehicle tags that they can link to their bank accounts for instant, contactless payment when driving on toll roads and more. Customers affix a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tag to their vehicle that’s read by a Sem Parar-enabled sensor as they drive past. When the tag is scanned, payment is collected.
Their Goal
Better response rates and performance insights
Occasionally, RFID tags fail and must be replaced so that a vehicle can be properly scanned. Sem Parar previously sent SMS (Short Message Service) messages to drivers with failed tags that walked them through the process of requesting a free replacement tag. But Sem Parar was unable to track open and clickthrough rates for SMS, and the response rate was considered too low.
“Utility messages on WhatsApp far outperformed our usual approach of SMS. We were able to reach more people more accurately, on a technology they use everyday. We saved so much money compared to SMS that we were able to reinvest in developing other campaigns on WhatsApp to reach frequent customers.”
Maurício Siqueira
CRM and Customer Strategy Manager, Sem Parar
Their Solution
Utility messages on WhatsApp
The team decided to replace the SMS campaign with a campaign of utility messages on WhatsApp instead. Across a two-month period (June 2–August 1, 2025), Sem Parar sent utility messages on WhatsApp to approximately 30,000 customers with failed tags. The messages informed them of the issue with their tag and gave them the option to pick up a new tag in a store or have it delivered to their home. After clicking the button and making their selection, the customer was presented with followup details for how to get their tag via their preferred choice.
Their Success
More reliable, more secure
Sem Parar reported that utility messages on WhatsApp gave it greater flexibility to personalize the customer experience, and that it considered utility messages more reliable and secure than SMS. It also reported stronger open rates and response rates at a lower cost, and the company said it used the savings to test new utility message campaigns that could improve the customer experience for repeat purchasers:
- 2.1X increase in customer response rate compared to SMS*
- 22% lower cost compared to SMS*
- 65% open rate*
*Results are self-reported and not identifiably repeatable. Generally expected individual results will differ.
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