Infobip RCS traffic surges 169% as US leads growth

Infobip reported 169.3% growth in Rich Communication Services for Business traffic in the first half of 2026, compared with the same period a year earlier. The United States was its fastest-growing market.

The communications platform provider processed RCS registration requests for more than 7,300 unique brands and completed 14,000 RCS agent launches during the half year.

Brands are adopting RCS as a richer alternative to traditional SMS and MMS, using it to run more interactive mobile conversations with customers. Infobip's figures suggest companies are shifting established messaging volumes to the newer format rather than limiting it to pilot campaigns.

The strongest rise came from the US, where RCS interactions increased 1,298.8% year on year. Infobip's customers have sent more than 1.5 billion RCS messages in that market so far this year.

Elsewhere, Spain recorded growth of 290%, while the UK posted 282%. India rose 108% and France increased 48%, indicating that adoption is spreading across a mix of developed and fast-growing mobile markets.

The UK was one of the company's largest growth markets outside the US. Its nearly threefold increase points to broader use of RCS by brands looking to move beyond basic text messaging for customer engagement.

Infobip has offered RCS since 2018, giving it several years of involvement in a channel that mobile operators and technology companies have promoted as an upgrade to SMS. The latest figures suggest the commercial picture is changing as more brands begin using the format at larger volumes.

Market shift

The rise in registrations and launches is another sign that adoption is broadening. More than 7,300 brands sought registration through Infobip in the half, while 14,000 RCS agents were launched, showing that many companies are setting up verified business messaging presences across markets.

That matters because one of the long-running questions around RCS has been whether businesses would treat it as a niche channel or commit meaningful customer traffic to it. The data points to a move towards regular operational use, particularly in countries where operator support, device availability and pricing models are more established.

Interactive Session billing is now live in the US. That means two-way conversational pricing is available across all live RCS markets served by Infobip, which could make it easier for businesses to budget for customer service and engagement use cases.

Regional picture

The US growth is especially notable because of the scale involved. A 1,298.8% rise from a large market base, combined with more than 1.5 billion messages delivered this year, suggests RCS is moving into mainstream business messaging in a country where SMS has long dominated commercial mobile communications.

In Europe, the figures point to a similar pattern, though from different starting points. Spain and the UK both posted gains of more than 280%, showing strong momentum for a format that has often progressed unevenly across European markets.

France's 48% increase was more modest, but still indicates continued expansion. India's 108% growth suggests businesses there are also adding RCS to customer communication strategies as smartphone use and demand for richer digital interactions continue to rise.

Executive view

Dave Boddington, RCS Business Unit Head at Infobip, said: "RCS for Business is scaling rapidly across global markets, and the growth we're seeing shows that brands are moving beyond experimentation and migrating existing SMS or MMS traffic into real deployment and new use cases, capitalising on the strengths of the RCS channel. Infobip has had RCS in its portfolio since 2018, and with 7.3k unique brands onboarded and 14k successful launches in 2026 alone, we have the experience and operational depth to help businesses launch and scale richer customer conversations with confidence. The exceptional growth in the United States, alongside strong momentum in Spain, the UK, France, India and other markets, confirms that RCS is becoming a mainstream business messaging channel."

Infobip operates in cloud communications, where providers handle messaging, authentication and customer contact tools for businesses. Its network reaches more than seven billion mobile devices across six continents through more than 10,000 connections, including more than 800 direct operator connections.

The latest RCS figures add to evidence that business messaging is expanding beyond standard text. As brands look for verified profiles, richer media and more interactive customer journeys in a mobile inbox, traffic growth on this scale suggests RCS is becoming a more established part of the messaging mix.