More than 55 millions Vietnamese will soon be able to purchase digital content online by charging payments to their mobile phone bill.

Direct carrier billing lets users make payments over a data connection by confirming payments with one click on their phone. Since the mobile operator has all the information necessary to process payment, this removes the need to send any text messages during the payment process. In markets where Fortumo provides direct carrier billing, payment conversion for first-time payments is close to 40% and higher for repeat purchases.

As a result of the partnership, Fortumo will provide the billing platform to Viettel to enable the launch of carrier billing on major app stores as well as for many top Asian digital content merchants including Box TV, Ditto TV, Gaana, UCWeb/Alibaba, Mobogenie, Octro and Games2Win.

Carrier billing of Fortumo (Source: Telecomasia)

“Mobile operators get the best value out of their billing platform if they enable payments for app stores but also for video and music streaming providers, game developers and other digital merchants. Viettel is the leading mobile operator in Vietnam and we are excited to work together with them in launching carrier billing for app stores as well as for other top tier digital companies,” said Gerri Kodres, Chief Business Officer at Fortumo.

According to the World Bank, credit card penetration in Vietnam is below 2% and debit card penetration stands at 27%. This means that only a quarter of the 36 million smartphone owners in the country currently have access to online payments without mobile payments, making the country a market with huge potential for carrier billing. The direct carrier billing partnership between Viettel and Fortumo aims to bridge this gap in payment access as online payments become available to anyone who owns a mobile phone.

At the same time, Super Data Research estimates that already now 15.8% of all digital gaming transactions in the country are done through carrier billing – and the proportion should grow along with the gap between smartphone ownership and access to bank-based payments.

Fortumo’s direct carrier billing platform is currently available to over 2.5 billion consumers in 16 Asian countries (Australia, Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, New Zealand, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam). Globally Fortumo covers 94  countries offering payment for over 130.000 merchants and reaches 4.3 billion consumers with its carrier billing solution.

Besides app stores such as Google Play and Windows Phone Store, Fortumo’s platform is used directly by leading platforms and digital content providers in Asia, including Gaana, UCWeb/Alibaba, Box TV, Ditto TV, Times Internet, Mobogenie, Octro and Games2Win. To enable global carrier billing for these merchants, Fortumo has partnerships with more than 350 mobile operators across the world, including mobile operator groups such as Telefónica, Telenor, Singtel, Turkcell and Kyivstar, as well as leading mobile operators in India and China. In recent news from the region, Fortumo announced the launch of direct carrier billing for Windows Phone Store in the Philippines.