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By Miriam Liszewski, RCS Commercial Product Manager at Sinch
The way people experience business messaging is changing, and not always for the better. A new report from Sinch shows that more than half of consumers (53%) have mistaken a legitimate brand message for a scam. And in North America, this reality hits harder. U.S. consumers alone made up more than a quarter of total respondents in the global survey, indicating these findings reflect real, lived experience on a national scale, not edge cases. At the same time, nearly 80% say they place greater trust in messages when they carry clear verification signals like a logo or checkmark.
That trust gap has real consequences. Sensitive updates, whether it’s a bank alert, a healthcare appointment reminder, or a one-time password, risk being overlooked, ignored, or dismissed as fraud. And with mobile operating systems now introducing enhanced filters that move unrecognized senders into separate folders, the stakes are only rising.
The Holiday Season: Peak Communication, Peak Risk
Timing makes the problem even more urgent. In the United States and Canada, the November-December retail spike hits harder than anywhere; volume is up, consumer stress is up, and fraud attempts follow the money. The holiday season is the busiest period for customer communication and when fraud attempts spike. This creates a perfect storm: Consumers are receiving more messages than ever but are also more wary than ever. If a brand’s messages aren’t trusted, they may never even be seen.
What Customers Really Want
The findings, part of Sinch’s 2025 State of RCS in customer communications report, underscores the growing challenge for brands to connect with their customers in an increasingly noisy and insecure digital environment. The report makes one thing clear: Consumers know what they want from brand communications, and what they don’t.
- They want clear confirmation signals such as logos and checkmarks.
- They want sensitive information delivered through secure, verified channels.
- They want messages that feel personal and relevant.
What they don’t want are suspicious-looking texts, messages from unknown senders, or critical alerts that risk being hidden or mistaken for spam.
In a world where unrecognized messages are increasingly hidden or ignored, trust has become the key to visibility. RCS for Business delivers that trust by offering verified business profiles, brand logos, and secure messaging, safeguarding both consumers and businesses. Sensitive information such as bank alerts, healthcare reminders, or OTPs, along with promotions and offers, are delivered securely and recognized instantly as authentic.
For brands, this means less risk of fraud, higher visibility, stronger engagement, and deeper loyalty during peak moments like the holiday season. By combining security with richer, more interactive features, RCS transforms every message into an opportunity to build trust and drive meaningful engagement.
Verified Messaging as the Path Forward
The answer isn’t to flood inboxes with more of the same. It’s to raise the standard. RCS offers verified sender identities, logos, and safeguards against spoofing that give customers instant confidence in message authenticity, even if they’re filtered into a separate folder.
Sinch’s latest State of RCS Report highlights the momentum:
- 59% of consumers prefer receiving sensitive information like OTPs through a verified channel such as RCS.
- 96% of retailers already use conversational commerce in some form.
- 54% of financial services leaders and 57% of healthcare leaders say security is the top benefit of RCS.
- 59% of business leaders call RCS a “game changer” for their industry.
Why Trust Has Become a Business-Critical Safeguard
Trust isn’t a “nice to have,” it’s the foundation of visibility. Inboxes today are noisier and more complex than ever, and customers are quick to dismiss anything that looks suspicious. RCS addresses this by combining security with interactivity: A verified channel that not only reduces fraud risk but also turns every message into an opportunity to build loyalty.
Heading into the holidays, the takeaway is clear. If brands want to protect their customers and their reputations, they need to ensure that every message signals trust at first glance. Verified messaging isn’t just a defensive move, it’s a growth strategy for an era where credibility is the new currency.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Miriam Liszewski is the RCS Commercial Product Manager at Sinch, the global CPaaS (Communications Platform as a Service) market leader that is pioneering the way the world communicates through its Customer Communications Cloud.
With extensive experience as a Partner and Customer Success Manager, Miriam is dedicated to building strong relationships and crafting effective processes and strategies that drive scale and launch innovative products.
At Sinch, Miriam is instrumental in driving Sinch�s mission to deliver cutting-edge RCS products and solutions. Her expertise in relationship management, customer success, and strategic development ensures the successful launch and growth of innovative products.
Prior to joining Sinch, Miriam served as the Strategic Partnerships Development Manager at Google, leveraging more than 20 years of experience in the messaging and advertising sectors. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Hunter College and is a member of the Cal Poly Pomona Women in Leadership advisory board.
