Digi and Fortumo launch direct carrier billing in Malaysia

Under the terms of the agreement, 12 million subscribers of Digi will be able to make online payments by charging the purchases to their mobile phone bill.

Fortumo’s direct carrier billing platform is used by app stores (Google Play & Windows Phone Store), digital content providers (Sony, HOOQ, Gaana, Magzter), game developers (EA Mobile and Gameloft), smartphone manufacturers (Huawei, Xiaomi) and thousands of other merchants.

Carrier billing fills a significant gap in the online payments ecosystem in Malaysia due to an inadequate banking and credit card infrastructure. While 34% of people in the country already have a smartphone, only 20% have access to a credit card. This means a large part of the population has online access but is unable to pay for premium content.

Carrier billing resolves this issue by enabling any phone owner to make online payments. According to Fortumo’s internal data, the average revenue per paying user (ARPPU) in Malaysia is USD5.4 and roughly half of all online purchases are done on mobile devices.

Fortumo and Telenor Group have been working together since 2013 and in addition to Malaysia, are offering direct carrier billing to Telenor networks in Pakistan and Thailand. In total, Fortumo covers 16 countries in the Asia Pacific region, reaching 1.4 billion mobile subscribers. In recent news, the company announced the launch of Fortumo Insight, a payments intelligence platform for mobile operators.