Mobile payments provider Fortumo has signed Global Framework Agreements with leading operator groups Telefónica and Telenor to bring direct carrier billing services to 460 million additional subscribers worldwide. Using the BlueVia Payments API to charge purchases to their mobile operator bill, users in more than 30 countries will now be able to purchase digital goods over the web and on Android, Windows 8 and Windows Phone devices.
“Mobile operator billing is win win for everyone. It makes it much simpler and convenient for consumers to buy digital goods which in turn helps content owners monetize their content,” said Jose Valles, Head of BlueVia at Telefónica Digital. “Working with Fortumo will deliver to developers an easy-to-use interface for direct mobile payments, connecting to millions of customers globally.”
“A significant part of Telenor’s around 150 million subscribers come from emerging markets in Asia and Central and Eastern Europe where mobile phone is often the only way to pay for digital content,” says Sven Størmer Thaulow, Head of Comoyo at Telenor Digital Services. “We’re looking forward to working with Fortumo to widen the access to simple mobile payments online and within mobile apps.”
“Developers usually don’t want to do a different billing integration for each mobile operator or store. Fortumo’s technology enables them to do one integration and gain billing access to the subscriber base of many mobile operators in 80 countries”, says Gerri Kodres, SVP of Business Development and Carrier Partnerships at Fortumo. “Bluevia API along with Telefónica’s and Telenor’s incredibly strong footprint in Latin America, Asia and Europe gives a tremendous boost to our direct billing coverage in parts of the world where mobile payments are seeing the biggest growth in the coming years.”
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