The mobile payments company Fortumo and PT Hutchison 3 Indonesia – the owner of 3 (Tri) GSM provider – have launched direct carrier billing in Indonesia.
As a result of this announcement, 55.5 million subscribers of Tri will now be able to make online payments with merchants using Fortumo by charging payments to their mobile phone credit.
“As a mobile broadband provider in Indonesia, we understand that digital, including online payment and other online transaction, is part of our subscriber lifestyle. Fortumo is a well recognized carrier billing provider with local expertise in Asian markets. Being able to plug in a large number of both globally and locally popular merchants through one integration was an attractive proposition and we look forward to working with Fortumo, giving more value added service to our subscribers for their digital lifestyle,” said Dolly Susanto, Chief Sales and Marketing Officer of Hutchison 3 Indonesia.
“Indonesia has one of the biggest and most quickly growing digital populations in Asia. But a majority of the population cannot make online payments due to a lacking bank infrastructure. Indonesian carriers have the opportunity to seize the payments market and increase revenue by enabling payments for digital content. We are very happy to be working with Hutchison 3 and connecting their subscribers to the world’s leading digital entertainment companies,” said Siddharth Sahi, Vice President of Business Development & Carrier Relations at Fortumo.
Indonesia has 259 million mobile phone users and 55 million smartphone users, a number which is estimated to grow 17% this year. At the same time, only 4 million people in the country have a credit card.
This means most people in the country can access online content but are unable to pay for it. Carrier billing solves this issue by allowing any phone owner to make payments. As a result, both carriers and digital merchants can increase their payment coverage and revenue through carrier billing.
Direct carrier billing allows users to make payments over a data connection by confirming purchases with one click on their phone. Payments are processed without any additional information required from the mobile user which provides a significant conversion improvement compared to any other online payment method.
Fortumo’s direct carrier billing platform is used by leading app stores (Google Play, Windows Phone Store), digital media companies (Sony, Hooq, Gaana) and game developers (EA Mobile, Gameloft, Rovio). To enable global carrier billing for these merchants, Fortumo has partnered with more than 350 mobile operators across the world.
In recent news from Asia, Fortumo has announced direct carrier billing partnerships with Reliance Communications in India, Zong in Pakistan and Viettel in Vietnam for payments on Google Play.
In total, Fortumo’s direct carrier billing platform is available to 1.5 billion consumers in 16 Asia Pacific countries. More information on the carrier billing ecosystem in Asia can be found from Fortumo’s recent market report.
