Bango, a leading provider of mobile payment, announced a series of Direct Operator Billing (DOB) partnership with mobile service providers worldwide from the beginning of 2014. Among the partnerships signed by the company include Saudi Telecom and Mobily in Saudi Arabia, Mobinil in Egypt, Telkom in South Africa, Telefónica in Mexico and Telenor in Hungary.
Bango said that it provides operator billing for Google Play, Windows Phone Store, Facebook, Firefox Marketplace and BlackBerry World, and Amazon, the latest in the list. Bango also highlights that it has more than 120 live operator connections in place, reaching more than one billion consumers with strong presence in the Middle East. The company also emphasized its strong presence in the South East Asia markets namely Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines, Indonesia and Vietnam.
“These markets represent the new digital economies, built on their runaway growth in smartphone usage. While there has been limited payment for digital goods through SMS in the past, for most operators in these markets, Bango’s app store partnerships are the first time true direct operator billing has become available. The result is that consumers experience the higher user experience standard established by leading app stores, which includes the quality and depth of content, the discovery experience, getting the content onto the device and, of course, the purchasing experience."
"We put great focus on developing our operator partnerships ahead of app store readiness. For example, in the last 12 months we have been running a seminar program named ‘Bango Nexus’, which has taken in Manila, Hong Kong, Taipei, Bangkok, Dubai and Mexico City. The seminar gives operators in those markets a 360 degree understanding of what technical and operational requirements they must provide to enable direct operator billing for app stores. This week Bango Nexus reaches Johannesburg, with delegates representing operators from a number of key sub-Saharan markets."
- Richard Leylan, VP Marketing Communications, Bango
