Mobifone And Fortumo Team To Roll Out Carrier Billing On Google Play

Mobifone, the Vietnamese mobile operator, and the mobile payments company Fortumo announced Thursday (April 3) the launch of carrier billing on Google Play.

In a press release, Mobifone said now more than 25 million Mobifone subscribers can purchase apps and in-app content from the app store by charging payments to their phone bill.

“Vietnam is one of the leading countries by economic growth in Asia today, which means a huge number of people coming online and consuming content on their smartphones. We are excited to partner with Mobifone in helping them partake in this growth and delivering to them the Google Play billing solution in such a short timeframe,” said Gerri Kodres, chief business officer at Fortumo, in the press release. Mobifone is the third Vietnamese mobile operator to launch Google Play in Vietnam by using Fortumo as its integration partner. Fortumo said it already works together with Viettel and Vietnamobile.

According to Mobifone, carrier billing significantly increases the amount of people in Vietnam who can make online payments. Currently only 2 percent of the population has credit cards, while carrier billing is available to any phone owner. Today, more than 40 percent of Vietnamese already own a smartphone with the growth accelerating. Additional information on the Vietnamese mobile ecosystem can be found in Fortumo’s Asia market report.

With the partnership with Fortumo, Mobifone said it will also get access to Fortumo Insight, the company’s data analytics platform, which helps carriers see the main business KPIs and analyze their revenue from app stores. Fortumo Insight also enables carriers to track subscriber payment behavior and make improvements based on actual results, Mobifone said.

In addition to Google Play, Fortumo works with digital media providers including Spotify, Sony, HOOQ and Gaana and gaming companies EA Mobile, Gameloft, Kinguin and Rovio. Merchants using Fortumo’s platform can collect payments from subscribers of more than 350 mobile operators through one integration, the companies said.