Marc Jarrett is a man on a mission. The business development manager for Swiss company Password By Phone wants adult webmasters – particularly American adult webmasters – to think outside the billing box. “Given the fact that the vast majority of the world’s population does not have a credit card, if you currently do not offer an alternative billing solution, you are missing out on a significant revenue stream,” he says.
That’s why he’s convinced that PBP’s interactive voice response solution should be part of every adult website’s arsenal. The geo-targeted system, which has paid its partners more than $250 million during the more than 10 years of its existence, displays the sales pitch not only in English, but also in 35 other languages, including Chinese, Arabic, and Russian. With PBP, “Money talks in every language,” Jarrett says.
IVR billing requires surfers to call a premium-rate phone number to receive a personal access code that allows them access to participating websites. Unlike dialers, the system requires no download. Payment is charged to the surfer’s phone bill in his or her local currency. Jarrett says PBP virtually eliminates the possibility of chargebacks and has been shown to convert as much as 80 percent of the foreign traffic that American webmasters typically lose.
“[PBP] is popular with end users since it is simple and means they do not have to part with any personal information,” Jarrett says. “And since typically these customers have no other way of paying you, such billing is a fantastic recurring business.”
The system also is affiliate-friendly, as it is integrated with the NATS back-end management program, provides global real-time stats, and offers webmasters a 10 percent override on the sales of other webmasters they refer to the program. Payments are made every two weeks by check, wire transfer, Moneybookers, or ePassporte.
