Apple expands carrier billing services to Asia

This transaction method allows users to charge purchases directly to their cellphone bill instead of registering a bank card or using a gift coupon. The announcement follows the service’s debut in Germany and Russia in October 2015.

Recently, the company has also expanded carrier billing services to Switzerland. The feature is supported by Salt (previously Orange) which allows its customers use carrier billing, other carriers in the country are to be announced.

At present, the option in Taiwan is only available to Far EasTone contract holders, but is expected to roll out to other carriers soon. In Japan, mobile company KDDI will use Apple’s carrier billing, but has yet to be officially announced in the country according to MacRumors. Apple has posted instructions on how to use the convenience feature, which can be found in the Payment Information section of the iTunes Store after users have signed in with their credentials. 

Users in Japan make up the third largest market for App Store transactions, behind China and the US, indicating Apples willingness to make carrier billing its next go-to online purchase method behind Apple Pay, the site continues. Apple appears ready to go the way of Google, which already offers mobile billing to users of its Google Play store in 45 markets, including deals with Japans top three cellular carriers.