Pair to enable physical goods to be purchased through carrier billing
Docomo Digital, the European based operation unit of Japanese firm, NTT Docomo, has partnered with the Swiss operator, Swisscom, to enable physical goods to be purchased online and paid for directly onto a customer’s phone bill.
With a simple API integration, retailers of physical goods will be able now to offer Swisscom direct carrier billing (Easypay) as a new payment method for customers. The first retailer that will use the solution is MediaShop Group, an TV and online merchant based in Austria.
Fernando González Mesones, COO of Docomo Digital financial services, commented: “Until now direct carrier billing hasn’t really produced an effective way to purchase physical goods on mobile, so we are excited to partner with Swisscom to introduce this innovation. At Docomo Digital, we aim to drive the evolution of mobile commerce, so working with Swisscom to provide consumers and merchants in Switzerland with a new faster, secure and innovative payment method, is a big step forward for mobile commerce in Europe. We expect this proof of concept to drive alignment in other markets for similar solutions that benefit end users, merchants and mobile operators.”
Gerhard Schedler, head of sales mobile services and M2M/IoT at Swisscom, added: “As an innovative telecom operator we welcome the opportunity to contribute to the future of mobile ecommerce. We believe that by working with the right partners, like Docomo Digital, all telcos can help to improve the way consumers buy digital and physical goods online. Direct carrier billing, as part of operators’ payment methods, is set to be a disruptor in the digital ecommerce and we fully support this initiative.”
The Docomo Digital and Swisscom solution, powered by Loviit, Docomo Digital´s technical financing platform, is able to compete with any other payment methods and offers advantages, including one-click-to-buy and secure authentication, where Docomo Digital will manage the check-out flows and payment transactions, which will provide consumers with the option to purchase with one click and resulting in higher conversion rates. This function is powered by a multi-layer mobile authentication system to ensure complete security for customers.
