//

Wit this partnership, over 12M Digi subscribers will be able to make online payments by charging the purchases to their mobile phone bill

Telecom operator Digi (part of Telenor Group) and Estonian mobile payments company Fortumo have launched direct carrier billing in Malaysia.

Thanks to the partnership, 12 million subscribers of Digi will be able to make online payments by charging the purchases to their mobile phone bill, Fortumo said in a statement.

Fortumo’s direct carrier billing platform is used by leading app stores (Google Play & Windows Phone Store), digital content providers (Sony, HOOQ, Gaana, Magzter), game developers (EA Mobile and Gameloft), smartphone manufacturers (Huawei, Xiaomi) and thousands of other merchants.

“Carrier billing has evolved a lot during the last years and has now become the preferred emerging markets’ choice for many digital merchant categories including music and video streaming, digital media, gaming and social. Fortumo is happy to bring its portfolio of top merchants to Digi and expand our partnership with Telenor Group,” said Gerri Kodres, Chief Business Officer at Fortumo.

Carrier billing fills a significant gap in the online payments ecosystem in Malaysia due to an inadequate banking and credit card infrastructure. While 34 per cent of people in the country already have a smartphone, only 20 per cent have access to a credit card. This means a large part of the population has online access but is unable to pay for premium content.

Also Read: Telco Digi launches accelerator for Malaysian startups

Carrier billing resolves this issue by enabling any phone owner to make online payments. According to Fortumo’s internal data, the average revenue per paying user (ARPPU) in Malaysia is US$5.4 and roughly half of all online purchases are done on mobile devices.

Fortumo and Telenor Group have been working together since 2013 and in addition to Malaysia, are offering direct carrier billing to Telenor networks in Pakistan and Thailand.

In total, Fortumo covers 16 countries in the Asia Pacific region, reaching 1.4 billion mobile subscribers. Recently, the company announced the launch of Fortumo Insight, a payments intelligence platform for mobile operators.

The post Digi and Fortumo launch direct carrier billing in Malaysia appeared first on e27.

from e27 http://ift.tt/1UyMO3G