Indosat Ooredoo has partnered with mobile payments platform provider Fortumo to launch direct carrier billing in Indonesia.
The partnership is expected to enable the Indonesian mobile operator’s 69.8 million subscribers make online payments by charging purchases to their mobile account, without the need to use a credit card.
“This strategic collaboration with Fortumo will bring more benefits to Indosat Ooredoo customers and allow transactions at a wider network of merchants,” said Prashant Gokarn, chief of new business and innovation at Indosat Ooredoo. “We look forward to continuing to provide innovation that brings more value to our customers as part of our goal to become a leading digital telco.”
Fortumo’s direct carrier billing platform is used by leading app stores (Google Play, Windows Phone Store), digital media companies (Sony, HOOQ, Gaana) and gaming companies (EA Mobile, Gameloft, Kinguin, Rovio).
To enable global carrier billing for these merchants, Fortumo has partnered with more than 350 mobile operators across the world.
“Connecting with Fortumo gives mobile operators immediate access to additional revenue from all the segments of the digital industry,” said Siddharth Sahi, VP of business development and carrier relations at Fortumo.
The two companies cite data which show that there are over 65 million smartphone owners in Indonesia, but less than 5 million people have access to credit cards.
They said this meant that a majority of the digital population cannot make online payments. As a consequence, digital merchants lose out on revenue from a majority of the population. Carrier billing resolves this problem by allowing any mobile phone owner (both prepaid and postpaid) to make payments through Fortumo.