SMS Policy
SMS Notifications - Neural Payments
Effective Date: 11/20/2025
Overview
Neural Payments provides transactional SMS notification services to financial institutions for peer-to-peer payment systems. These messages are strictly informational and relate only to payment transactions. We never send marketing or promotional messages.
Two Types of SMS Users
We send SMS notifications to two different groups with different consent requirements:
1. Bank Customers (Payment Senders)
If you're a customer of a financial institution using our service, you can opt in to receive SMS notifications about payments you send.
2. Payment Recipients
If someone sends you money and provides your phone number, you'll receive a notification about the payment.
For Bank Customers: How Opt-In Works
If you're a customer of a bank or credit union using Neural Payments:
When you enroll in your financial institution's digital banking or payment services, you'll see an option like:
☐ I agree to receive SMS/text message notifications about my payment transactions
If you check this box, you'll receive SMS notifications about:
- Payments you send (success/failure status)
- Payments you receive
- Payment requests
- Transaction confirmations
You can opt out at any time by replying STOP to any message or updating your preferences in your banking app.
For Payment Recipients: How It Works
If someone sends you money and you're not a bank customer (or haven't opted in):
First Payment Notification
The first time someone sends you a payment and provides your phone number, you'll receive a one-time transactional SMS that looks like:
"John Doe sent you $50.00 via Sample Bank: 'October Rent'. Claim: https://pay.samplebank.com/abc123"
This first message does not require your prior consent under FCC regulations.
Legal Basis for First Message
Under FCC regulations and TCPA (Telephone Consumer Protection Act), when someone provides your phone number as part of sending you a payment, this constitutes "prior express consent" for the financial institution to send you a one-time transactional notification about that specific payment.
This is permitted under:
- 2015 FCC Omnibus Order (one-time money transfer notifications)
- 2014 A2P and Financial Services Exception (payment transfer alerts)
- 2012 FCC Declaratory Ruling (transaction-initiated notifications)
Opting In for Future Notifications
When you click the link to claim your payment, you'll see a payment claim page with a checkbox:
☐ I agree to receive SMS/text message notifications for future payments sent to me
If you check this box:
- ✅ You'll receive SMS notifications for future payments sent to this phone number
- ✅ You'll receive payment status updates (success/failure)
- ✅ You can opt out anytime by replying STOP
If you don't check this box:
- ✅ You can still claim the current payment
- ❌ You won't receive SMS notifications for future payments
- ℹ️ Senders will be notified to use email or other methods to contact you
Types of Messages You May Receive
All messages are transactional only and relate to specific payment activities:
Payment Notifications (First-time, one-time transactional):
"John Doe sent you $50.00 via Sample Bank: 'October Rent'. Claim: https://pay.samplebank.com/abc123"
Payment Success Confirmations (Opted-in recipients):
"Success! John Doe sent you $50.00 from Sample Bank: 'October Rent'. Funds sent to debit card ending in 4455."
Payment Failure Alerts (Opted-in recipients):
"John Doe sent you $50.00 from Sample Bank: 'October Rent'. Payment to debit card ending in 4455 failed. Funds returned to sender."
Transaction Status (Bank customers):
"Your payment of $50.00 to Jane Smith: 'October Rent' succeeded!"
Transaction Failed (Bank customers):
"Your payment of $50.00 to Jane Smith: 'October Rent' failed. Funds returned to your account."
No Marketing or Promotional Content
Neural Payments and our financial institution partners never send marketing or promotional messages through this system.
All messages are strictly transactional notifications about payment activity. We will never:
- Advertise products or services
- Send promotional offers
- Include cross-sell or upsell content
- Request app downloads for marketing purposes
- Send any content unrelated to your specific payment transaction
Message Frequency
For Bank Customers: You will receive SMS notifications based on your payment activity. Frequency depends on how often you send or receive payments.
For Payment Recipients:
- First payment: One SMS notification (no opt-in required)
- Subsequent payments: Only if you opted in on the payment claim page
- If you didn't opt in: Zero future SMS notifications
Opting Out
Bank Customers:
- Reply STOP to any message to opt out
- Update your preferences in your banking app
- Contact your financial institution
Payment Recipients:
- Reply STOP to any message to opt out (if you opted in)
- Don't check the opt-in box on the payment claim page
- Future senders will use email or other methods
Once you opt out, you will no longer receive SMS notifications. You can still receive payments through other channels.
Opt-In Confirmation
When you opt in (either during bank enrollment or on a payment claim page), you'll receive a confirmation message:
"Thank you for opting in! You'll receive SMS notifications for future payments sent to this number. Reply STOP anytime to opt out."
Our SMS Phone Number
Messages are sent from our toll-free number: [Insert toll-free number after approval]
Supported Carriers
Our SMS service works with all major U.S. carriers including AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon, and most regional carriers.
Privacy & Data Protection
Neural Payments takes your privacy seriously. We:
- Use your phone number only to deliver payment notifications
- Do not store your number for marketing purposes
- Do not share your number with third parties for marketing
- Do not add you to any mailing lists or messaging programs
- Follow our data retention policies for transactional records
All messages are transactional payment notifications only. No marketing data is collected or used.
For more information about how we handle your data, please see our Privacy Policy.
Consent Is Not Required for Service
You do not need to consent to SMS notifications to send or receive payments.
- Bank customers can use payment services without opting into SMS
- Payment recipients can receive payments via email or other notification methods
- SMS is simply one optional delivery channel
Compliance with Federal Regulations
Neural Payments complies with:
- Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA)
- FCC regulations on transactional messaging
- CTIA Messaging Principles and Best Practices
- Financial industry compliance standards
Our use case for first-time recipient notifications is explicitly permitted under FCC rulings for consumer-initiated payment notifications.
Questions or Concerns
For questions about a specific payment notification:
- Contact the financial institution mentioned in the message
For questions about this SMS notification system:
- Review our Privacy Policy
For technical support:
- Visit this page for updates
This SMS notification system is for transactional payment notifications only. No marketing or promotional messages are ever sent.