Mobile Payment Magazine

Fortumo Selects Payfone for Direct Mobile Billing

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Payfone, a leading mobile payment processing service, and Fortumo, a leading provider of mobile payments, today announced that Fortumo has selected Payfone to power the direct billing option for its in-app purchasing SDK. This direct billing mobile payment method offers better reliability and higher security as well as better payouts for developers. Through the partnership, Fortumo’s clients will be able to provide consumers with the ability to make safe and secure mobile payments in real-time from any device, such as PC, smartphone, tablet or Wi-Fi.

“We are excited to work with Payfone because of their deep integration with mobile operators’ billing systems,” said Rain Rannu, co-founder of Fortumo. “This in turn will allow us to continue to provide the highest converting in-app purchasing with more payment options for our clients.”

Payfone’s Mobile Commerce Service is directly integrated into the mobile operator’s network, which provides the ability to intelligently identify a consumer’s profile in the system and offers true payment authorization and authentication. Payfone’s Device DNA authenticates the consumer across a wide variety of parameters during the transaction, ensuring they get exactly what they paid for. By pairing the Device DNA to each transaction, Payfone is able determine if a transaction is from a lost or stolen mobile device or if the owner of the mobile account has changed. This translates into one of the most secure and frictionless user experiences, across any device.

Fortumo’s in-app purchasing SDK for Android is the preferred international monetization tool for some of the most popular mobile game and app developers. Payment is done in a single click with no login or registration required. Fortumo’s in-app purchasing library supports both direct mobile operator billing and premium SMS, automatically selecting the best option depending on country, operator and user. It comes with built-in support for consumable and non-consumable items and virtual currencies. Fortumo’s in-app purchasing SDK is available in 61 countries, 22 languages and 42 currencies for any developer for free at http://fortumo.com/in-app-payments

“We are pleased to be working with Fortumo to provide their clients with the most robust in-app mobile payments solution on the market,” said Rodger Desai, chief executive officer, Payfone. “With this partnership, Payfone’s technology will be leveraged for some of the largest mobile payment implementations worldwide.”

Source: PR Newswire

Utility, Healthcare and Insurance Industies Plan Increased Mobile Billing Options for 2011, Says Survey

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Only about 20% of Utility, Healthcare and Insurance industry companies currently offer customers the option of mobile text bill presentment, and 60% of those polled indicated they have plans to offer such services in 2011, according to a recent poll by BillingTree.

BillingTree, Inc, one of the nation’s leading on-demand payment processors, today announced results from a poll taken during a recent webinar, which looked at the benefits of using mobile payment solutions to collect from customers, particularly in the Utility, Healthcare and Insurance industries. Of those attendees polled, only 20 percent currently offer customers the option of text bill presentment and authorization, but 60 percent of those polled plan to in 2011.

These findings support recent NACHA statistics for utility companies, which predict a 35% year-on-year growth rate in e-billing, with 100% planning to offer mobile alerts within the next 12 months. Additional webinar survey findings include:

  • Only one third currently offer pre-paid accounts with mobile funding for their services.
  • 85% believe offering new mobile prepaid and text solutions will increase customer adoption of paperless billing.

Mobile payment options offer much greater convenience for customers on the go, and provide a tool for organizations to communicate directly with their customers about possible service outages etc., as well as any outstanding bills.

“The results from the webinar show that the rapid mainstream adoption of text messaging is driving many organizations to think more seriously about integrating mobile payments solutions,” said Scott McCollum, BillingTree’s President. “Our Mobile Solutions Suite delivers on this increase in customer adoption, and will help organizations to collect from customers more effectively and in a way that better suits their needs.”

BillingTree supplies fully integrated, multi-channel electronic payment platform to a growing list of Industries, including Insurance, Utilities (such as energy, cable, municipal, and phone), as well as Healthcare and Subscription-billed services. Benefits of electronic payment solutions include an accelerated availability of consumer funds, reduced costs associated with manual-payment processing, improved cash management, and integrated processing by managing all payments, returns, and corrections through a single portal.

Source: PRNewswire