Trends and topics that will drive industry growth and adoption in 2017
Carrier billing offers content owners and merchants the ability to do business with consumers that do not own a credit or debit card by offering them a reliable and simplified payment mechanism. It uses the pre-existing, trusted billing relationship with mobile carriers that enables consumers to make purchases through the operator’s billing system.
Dimoco, a payment institute for carrier billing, has announced its key trends slated to drive the carrier billing market in 2017.
The company predicts that key trends that will drive carrier billing market growth and adoption in 2017 include digital content consumption. Digital content revenues are expected to increase from just under $140 billion worldwide in 2015 to $180 billion in 2017, according to a Juniper Research report.
The primary driver is consumer demand for digital content on multiple screens, including connected TVs and in-car entertainment options. Content producers that offer carrier billing as a payment method will win over consumers for the simplicity of the payment option. What categories will drive digital content consumption next year? Gaming will continue to account for the largest share of carrier billing digital content consumption, said Dimoco.
Video on demand (VoD) will experience significant growth in the coming year with consumers taking advantage of real time acquisition and consumption of their entertainment whenever and wherever they are, the company added. Also, e-publishing is expected to grow significantly in 2017. This growth can be attributed to an increase in digital book sales.
Tech savvy, always connected consumers looking for better payment options will drive the industry forward. More industry players in the digital services and digital content arena will choose carrier billing as their preferred payment method. This move will open their market to audiences who are tech savvy, always connected and have a low credit card penetration.
Also, flexibility and new subscription models are on the rise. Digital content producers will explore new subscription models, including one-off purchases and daily, weekly, or monthly subscription plans that are charged directly to the customer’s phone bill.
The new European regulation Payment Services Directive 2 will enable companies to offer additional service transactions to take place via carrier billing. This includes online ticketing, donations via mobile phone, as well as loading of goods such as gift cards.
And physical good carrier billing transactions are on the horizon, according to Dimoco. While carrier billing has become one of the more popular payment methods for digital service and content transactions, it has yet to be used for purchasing physical goods online. 2017 will be a pivotal year in taking the industry one step closer to this becoming a reality, the company claimed.
