Twilio has announced the global availability of Rich Communication Services (RCS), a next-generation messaging technology designed to make business communications more secure, interactive, and engaging. The move marks the company’s biggest step forward in business messaging since SMS, offering branded, verified messages with rich media features.
A new era of branded and interactive messaging
With RCS now live across Twilio’s 349,000 active customer accounts, businesses can send messages that include logos, taglines, and verified sender information. This rollout follows a public beta last year and is accessible through Twilio’s Programmable Messaging and Verify APIs. Existing customers can upgrade without making code changes, while new customers can integrate SMS and RCS through a single setup on Twilio’s platform.
Inbal Shani, Chief Product Officer and Head of R&D at Twilio, said, “Building engagement with your customers should be as seamless and trusted as possible. RCS makes this a reality by delivering richer interactions, improved deliverability, increased trust in your brand. This represents a fundamental shift in how businesses can communicate with their customers through Twilio’s trusted, simple, and smart platform.”
The service enables features such as call-to-action buttons, interactive carousels, location sharing, and rich media. Twilio has also built in SMS fallback, automatically reverting to SMS when RCS is unavailable, ensuring reliable delivery.
Building trust in customer engagement
Twilio highlighted that branded and verified messaging is becoming increasingly important as messaging fraud continues to grow. The company’s 2025 State of Customer Engagement Report found that while 90% of consumers trust some brands, only 15% fully trust them with their data. Furthermore, 88% of consumers are more likely to make a purchase when engagement is personalised in real time, but only 44% of brands are delivering at that level.
By integrating RCS, businesses can reassure customers that they are communicating with an authentic source. Verified branding and trust badges are especially useful for transactional messages like delivery updates, promotional campaigns, and customer service chats. According to Futurum Research, companies using RCS see a 32% increase in customer engagement and conversions compared to traditional SMS.
Adam Holtby, Principal Analyst at Omdia, noted, “The significance and potential of RCS goes beyond just uplift – the capability will help reshape business messaging into an interactive, trusted, and transaction-ready channel. What was once a one-way notification system is becoming a two-way enriched workflow – one where payments, authentication, and service requests can be completed without leaving a messaging app.”
Global adoption and industry partnerships
The timing of Twilio’s launch comes as support for RCS grows worldwide. Apple introduced RCS messaging on iPhones with iOS 18.2 in December 2024, joining Android’s existing support. Twilio’s service is now available across more than 20 countries and 55 carriers, positioning the technology for broad enterprise adoption.
Early adopters include Fresha in Europe and Nova Gestões in Latin America. Jeremy Miller, Head of Product at Fresha, explained, “When messages come from a verified, recognisable Fresha brand, people engage more because they know it’s genuine. That trust leads to stronger relationships and better outcomes.”
Juliano Skrzyszowski, CTO at Nova Gestões, added, “With RCS, we’ve seen a 4x improvement in response rates compared to SMS. Most importantly, the branded verification gives our customers confidence they’re communicating with Nova Gestões directly. In our business of financial recovery, trust is everything and RCS delivers that trust from the first message.”
In Singapore, Singtel is working with Twilio to help local businesses embrace RCS. Terence Lai, VP of Digitalisation, Products and Partnerships at Singtel, said, “Businesses in Singapore must adapt to the evolving expectations of consumers who are seeking more immersive interactions, especially through their mobile devices. Our partnership with Twilio enables businesses in Singapore to tap on RCS messaging to deliver rich and interactive communications that can improve their engagement with their customers in new and exciting ways.”
Google is also supporting the initiative, with Steve Brough, Global GTM Head of RCS for Business at Google, saying, “Through our partnership with Twilio, businesses can now deliver branded, verified experiences that blur the line between what a message can do and what an app can do, ultimately letting users get tasks done faster and more efficiently.”
With its global rollout complete, Twilio is positioning RCS as a new standard for business communications, combining brand trust, interactivity, and broad compatibility across devices.
