Charge to mobile now an affordable option for all online and digital retailers with launch of BillMobile

Competition in the mobile payments space has taken an unexpected turn, with the roll out of a charge-to-phonebill payment tool that offers competitive charges to PayPal and potentially knocks the competition of digital goods payments wide open.

BillMobile doesn’t require consumers to download an app, meaning any UK mobile phone owner can pay for goods and services with a phone number. While for merchants integration is quick and easy and the transaction fees are surprisingly affordable.

The transaction fees for BillMobile of only 9.9% mean that adding mobile to the checkout process is now a genuine option for merchants. The fees for mobile payments are now comparable to the fees charged for credit card or PayPal transactions and have moved a long way from the 30% transaction fee charged by app stores.

BillMobile is quick and easy for consumers to use – they just need their mobile phone number. It requires no new behaviour to be learnt, or apps to download. And on top of that it can be up 7.5 times quicker than paying with a credit card. By offering BillMobile at the checkout, merchants dramatically increase the number of potential online customers.

“Charge to Mobile is a new way to buy digital content with your mobile – everything from apps, games, music and videos to films, ebooks and many more. It’s fast, easy and safe,” says Danny Barclay, Head of Commerce Sales at Telefonica Digital.

“Mobile is the most widely available form of online payment and consumers love it, so it makes sense for merchants to add a mobile option at checkout,” said Chris Newell, CEO of BillMobile, who has spent many months negotiating with network operators for the better payouts to make Bill Mobile competitive. “For online retailers to avoid checkout abandonment they need to make it as easy as possible for customers to pay, and BillMobile is very easy.”

For sectors as varied as content publishing through to car parking, paying by mobile is a smooth and painless process that makes it easier for consumers to buy. With the new, lower transaction fees of only 9.9% that BillMobile offers (compared to 25% or higher previously), combined with the simplicity of the payment process for consumers, mobile payments can be expected to grow into more and more sectors as merchants see the value that it offers them.

“The UK’s mobile operators have worked really hard to make this happen,” continues Newell. “That’s because they see the long-term opportunities that charge to mobile provides. Consumers want to use it and now merchants can offer it knowing that the transaction fees are the lowest they’ve ever been.”

Running on the Payforit technology and launched by Payforit specialists ImpulsePay, BillMobile officially launched on June 1st with advertising in The Sunday Times. Offering the lowest ever transaction fees for charge to mobile payments, more marketing will follow as BillMobile is expected to be an option on almost every online checkout.

M-REATILING THINKS

This is a billing tool that hugely simplifies payments and sticks the charge on the consumers phone bill – or takes it out of their pre-pay credit. Nothing new there, but the very low charges of 9.9% make it very competitive with things like PayPal.

Of course, for now this is only for digital goods – in app and in game purchase, paying for car parking and wifi access – but it could well clean up in these areas. And we assured by regulators Ofcom and PhonePayPlus that they haven’t ruled out letting it be used for real-world purchases of things. This could indeed become a really simple way to pay for low value goods in news agents and other places. Certainly one to watch.