In light of regulations enacted on the dialer pay-by-phone market, online billing company Goodthinxx has launched a voice call service that could be a safer solution for Europeans who can’t pay for their online content with a credit card.
Voice Call is a way for non-U.S.-based Web surfers to pay for and then access adult content without a credit card and a way for Webmasters to attract overseas customers.
“In Europe, only 30 percent of the population has a credit card. So you go to a site, you see a link that says click here to pay if you have no credit card, international calls only,” said Tanja Rahman, CEO of Goodthinxx. “It works similar to a 900 number.”
The surfer simply calls the premium rate number listed on the Web site, receives a code and enters the code on the Web site, and gets billed via phone. Of course, the user has to stay connected to the call for the duration of the time they’re surfing the Web site or they lose access.
The voice solution works with any type of Internet connection and is available in 236 countries and in 21 languages. The downside is that there is no age verification system; so technically, anyone who can use a phone can gain access to adult content.
Calls automatically terminate after 15 minutes, as regulation dictates. Users then have the option to opt in again and continue viewing content.
Goodthinxx is hoping to use the Voice Call solution to replace dialers, which often spawned unethical business practices.
“What people would do is activate dialers at night, so while you were sleeping they would activate and bill you,” Rahman said. “We cut off at exactly the time we were supposed to and if they user wants to, they can reconnect. But not everybody was adhering to that. They were getting greedy.”
