Fortumo Inks Carrier Billing Deal With Spotify

Fortumo, the international mobile payment provider, announced on Tuesday (Oct. 11) it inked a partnership with Spotify.

In a press release, Fortumo said, as part of the partnership, Fortumo has introduced a carrier billing program specifically for Spotify users in Indonesia and Philippines.

“Asia leads the growth of online content consumption, and digital merchants are increasingly focusing on user acquisition in the region. Collecting payments from these users is not easy, however, as most people do not own a credit card. Carrier billing solves this problem by letting any mobile phone owner make online payments. We are very happy to help Spotify grow and monetize their user base in Asia,” said Andrea Boetti, vice president of global business development at Fortumo, in the press release announcing the partnership.

Spotify is using Fortumo’s Payments API, which allows merchants to take advantage of the bigger reach of carrier billing, while preserving features of card-based payment processing, such as free trial support, flexible pricing and control over the billing cycle. Merchant-branded checkout flows supported by the API increase user trust during the checkout process, and authenticating the user over a data connection means payments can be completed in a few seconds, Fortumo said.

“As a brand, we are always looking at ways for music fans to conveniently access Spotify Premium. We are excited to be working with Fortumo, whose services will increase the current payment options we have for our customers. The successful work we’ve done with Fortumo in Asia sits well in our wider plan to offer Spotify customers various payment methods relevant to them and specific to their location,” Patrik Falk, head of direct subscriptions for Spotify in Asia-Pacific, added.