Orange, Fortumo Expand Direct Carrier Billing Partnership to Egypt

The mobile payments company Fortumo and the mobile operator group Orange have launched direct carrier billing in Egypt. More than 30 million Orange subscribers in the country can now make payments on app stores, inside games and with digital merchants by charging purchases to their mobile phone bill.

Egypt is the second market where Orange and Fortumo have launched direct carrier billing for digital merchants; last year, Fortumo announced a partnership with the mobile operator group and expanded its payment services to Poland as the first Orange group market.

On this occasion Eng. Ashraf Halim, Deputy CEO, Orange Egypt said “We are glad to announce to our subscriber’s base the partnership with Fortumo; one of the biggest mobile payment companies providing direct carrier billing, with more than 350 operators in more than 100 countries. Availing DCB to our subscribers’ base through Fortumo Technology opens the door for quick, convenient and secure online payments through Orange billing systems.”

“Egypt is one of the fastest growing smartphone countries with double-digit annual growth, making it an attractive market for digital merchants. At the same time, very few people own credit cards to pay for premium digital content - and that’s exactly where carrier billing comes in. Orange is one of the leading telecoms in Egypt, and we are excited to enable carrier billing for digital merchants on a market with such tremendous potential,” said Martin Koppel, CEO and co-founder of Fortumo.

In Egypt, most people are unable to make online purchases using traditional payment methods as less than 2% of people own a credit card. This makes it impossible for digital merchants to collect revenue from most of their users in the country.

Direct carrier billing solves this problem by making online payments available to any phone owner: consumers can either deduct the payment from their prepaid SIM card or charge it to their monthly phone bill. Additional data on carrier billing in Egypt and other Middle Eastern markets can be found from Fortumo’s recent Middle East & Africa market report. In recent news from the region, Fortumo announced a partnership with the video streaming service Telly earlier this week.

The deal further cements Fortumo’s position as leading provider of carrier billing for emerging markets. Fortumo’s direct carrier billing platform is used by leading digital companies including Google Play, Spotify, iflix, Sony, HOOQ, Gaana, Telly, Electronic Arts, Gameloft and Kinguin. To enable payments for the merchants, Fortumo works together with mobile operators in more than 100 countries.