Optus announces mobile payments using phone number
- 27 August, 2012 10:37
- Comments 1
Optus customers can send charges for mobile purchases directly to their phone bill, through partnerships announced with BlackBerry and payments company Boku.
Optus customers can enter their phone number to buy credits, games and apps. The charges appear later on customers' monthly bills. Customers don’t have to register bank accounts or credit cards.
The billing option can be used to buy Facebook credits and BlackBerry App World apps and games. It also works for in-app purchases on BlackBerry. More compatible services will be announced later, Optus said.
To make a purchase, customers provide their mobile number and then confirm through an SMS text message. Optus said this method of payment is more secure than using credit and debit cards.
“The partnerships announced today take us another step closer to the seamless connected world we’re aiming to offer Optus customers,” said SingTel and Optus vice president of digital communities and ecosystems, Austin Bryan.
“We’re committed to providing customers with a simpler, safer and easier user experience when it comes to making payments online.”
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Comments
Roy Mallard
1
This is a great development but hardly very innovative.
Merchants using BOKU as a payment channel are charged a transaction fee of between 30 - 50% - yes that's right - up to half of the payment amount is taken in fees!!
This is not a sustainable payment method for any business or any product appart from digital goods which arguably have no or a very low true-cost-of-goods value associated with them.
The nearest thing in Australia that comes close to true mobile payment is mHtis. (http://www.mhits.com.au). They focus on QSR products and in particular coffee but I believe they also can provide a payment method for online and digital content like BOKU do but with only a 3.5% transaction fee.
Roy