Makes buying games and apps in mobile stores simpler
Mobile commerce enabler, Docomo Digital, has partnered with mobile operators 3 Ireland and Sunrise in Switzerland to enable network users to easily buy games and apps in mobile stores.
In Ireland, Docomo Digital has enabled carrier billing as a payment option when purchasing content through the Windows Phone Store, and in Switzerland, users of Sunrise can now do the same on Google’s Play Store.
In contrast to payment by credit card, customers using these direct carrier billing (DCB) payment options do not have to reveal sensitive data. The payment method is available to contract and prepaid customers, and customers pay for any products at the end of the month when paying their bill. Docomo Digital has been operating Google Carrier Billing for more than 25 other mobile operators worldwide.
Marco Rohr, director business development at Docomo Digital, said: “Direct carrier billing is becoming increasingly popular in Switzerland, not least because of the very simple payment procedure and the growing support of various dealers. In addition, there are very few countries where customers spend as much money via their mobile phone bill as in Switzerland.”
Jean-Pascal Di Iorio, senior product manager for service and hardware management at Sunrise, added: “We have chosen Docomo Digital as our partner for the rollout of Sunrise Pay due to their vast experience as a mobile commerce enabler. Sunrise Pay will be added as an additional payment method to other service in the near future and will therefore be available to customers with non-Android devices too.”
Similarly, the Three integration also allows their customers to pay for games, videos, music and apps via their phone bill. Docomo Digital has a long standing relationship with Three Ireland’s holding company, CK Hutchison Holdings, following similar integrations between mobile content stores and network operators owned by the company in multiple international markets.
Hiroyuki Sato, founder and CEO at Docomo Digital, said: “Expanding our partnership with CK Hutchison Holdings to help increase its mobile commerce capabilities in Ireland is very exciting for us. We’ve a proven track record at successfully integrating the Three mobile network with both the Windows Phone Store and Google Play Store in multiple international markets so we’re delighted to be working with them again in Ireland.”
Elaine Carey, chief commercial officer at Three Ireland, added: “Paying for digital products and services in the safest and most convenient way is very important to our customers, so we are pleased to further extend our direct carrier billing services. As Docomo Digital has successfully operated and managed similar services across our international network, they were the natural choice to achieve this for us.”
