Rich Communication Services (RCS) is fast emerging as a high-potential channel for brands looking to build more trusted, personalised customer communications – with early adopters already reporting tangible engagement gains.
Research from Twilio’s SIGNAL London conference suggests that organisations currently using RCS are deploying it to improve customer support, secure verification and personalised interactions. More than a quarter (27%) of respondents using RCS reported increased pick-up rates, pointing to its growing effectiveness in cutting through message fatigue and building confidence at key customer touchpoints.
Respondents highlighted RCS’ trust-building capabilities as a key differentiator. Top cited benefits included more rigorously verified business profiles and verified sender information alongside improved performance for one-time password (OTP) messaging. Together, these capabilities enable brands to provide clearer, more credible communications in an environment where customer trust is increasingly fragile.
Trusted, transparent, tailored interactions
Among organisations actively using RCS, the most common applications reflect a focus on customer experience and security. Nearly a third (32%) are using RCS for customer support and service, while 21% are deploying it for verification codes, order confirmations and shipping updates.
A further 18% are using RCS to deliver personalised product recommendations, underlining its potential to support more tailored, interactive brand-customer relationships.
These use cases demonstrate how RCS is evolving beyond a simple SMS alternative, offering richer, branded and interactive experiences that help brands engage customers more effectively across the lifecycle.
An adoption gap equals growing opportunity
While these findings point to clear benefits for early adopters, the research also highlights that many organisations remain in the early stages of exploring RCS – with the most commonly cited barriers being a lack of organisational knowledge about RCS (48%) and slow internal policy shifts (31%).
This gap suggests a significant opportunity for brands willing to move early, particularly as demand for secure, trusted, and personalised communications continues to rise.
Industry momentum continues to build
Despite these barriers, broader industry momentum around richer messaging channels is accelerating. During Cyber Week in 2025 alone, brands delivered 532 million messages through RCS and WhatsApp via Twilio, underscoring growing confidence in these channels during high-volume, high-value customer moments. As messaging becomes an increasingly critical part of customer experience strategies, RCS is well positioned to support brands seeking to evolve beyond traditional SMS while maintaining reach, security, and reliability.
The news backs up earlier reports that RCS is increasingly driving ecommerce, with consumers driving more online purchased from messaging than email for the first time in 2025. This is also seen with Christmas driving a rich messaging boom, with data from Infobip suggesting that more than 3.9 billion messages exchanged between brands and customers this shopping season, marking a 15% increase year on year.
According to the Infobip study, Rich Communication Services (RCS) will be the fastest-growing channel in 2025, with volumes rising 161% on Black Friday and 269% on Cyber Monday worldwide. SMS remains the leading retail channel with nearly 2.7 billion interactions.
Jake Kanter, Vice President of EMEA at Twilio comments: “Momentum for RCS is building fast, and we believe it’s set to become a secret weapon for brands prioritising secure, trusted, personalised interactions in 2026 and beyond. Trust is the foundation of every successful customer relationship, and RCS delivers that through verified sender information and secure, personalised interactions. As businesses look for ways to deepen engagement and loyalty, especially at a time when customer trust is fragile, RCS offers a powerful, future-ready channel for organisations looking to evolve their existing SMS strategies.”
