socialmedian: Mobile Payments Getting Traction On Social Networks, But Fees Are Sky High

User-submitted headlines for this story

Clips

Mobile Payments Getting Traction On Social Networks, But Fees Are Sky High

Source: TechCrunch

Jan 13, 2009

Summary

Users are increasingly choosing dead simple SMS mobile payments for micro-transactions on social network applications and gaming sites (it fills the void while they wait for more direct options), but super-high transaction fees are limiting growth.

The problem is that legacy transactions - specifically scams that give users a “free” ring tone with the fine print mentioning a monthly charge as high as $20 - have brought in so much cash to the carriers that they’ve gotten used to taking 50% or more of the total payment in fees. For the market to grow to encompass legitimate transactions, those fees have to drop dramatically. For that to happen, the social networks need to get involved directly in carrier negotiations.

Two companies, both headquartered in Europe, are already targeting mobile payments for apps - Mobillcash (UK) and Zong (Switzerland).

When you buy a virtual shotgun on Mobwars, for example (and they are selling a lot of them, up to $1 million per month) you have to pay real cash. You can choose to pay via a number of services (Facebook doesn’t offe

...Read the full article

Comments (0)

Add Your Comment