Online dating and social networking operator FriendFinder.com has launched a new payment system that permits members to be billed directly by their cell phone operators in the U.S., Australia, and most European countries. The system uses the Premium Short Message Service (PSMS) protocol.
The new payment method was recently rolled out in the U.K. for all FriendFinder.com programs, including Passion.com and AdultFriendFinder.com. It will be introduced during the next few weeks in Australia, Germany, Austria, France, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Korea, Taiwan, and China. In the U.S., it will be available for FriendFinder.com and Passion.com members beginning in September.
“We are turning on a PSMS billing system that enables members to buy special services or upgrade to a premium membership without using a credit card or other payment system,” says Legendary Lars, vice president of marketing for Various Inc., the parent company of FriendFinder.com, AdultFriendFinder.com, and Passion.com. “Members can handle the entire transaction simply by entering their mobile phone number in a box on our billing page.”
The company is reporting that the new service proved to be an instant success when introduced in the U.K.
“We are seeing very quickly that this is what people want,” says Legendary Lars. “Immediately after putting the PSMS payment option provided by Vidicom.co.uk on the billing page of just one site, we received transaction requests that averaged $250 every 15 minutes. The best part is that we achieved this reaction without any advertising or marketing at all. We simply put a link on the bottom of our payment page and let the surfer pick the transaction method.”
Under the PSMS system, a billing confirmation message is sent to the member’s mobile phone. When the member replies to the confirmation alert, the cost of the service they requested is charged to their telecommunications provider, providing an alternative for people who do not wish to use a credit card.
Service upgrades that can be purchased with PSMS provide benefits such as placing a member at the top of lists so that visitors can spot them quickly when browsing the site. Premium members also get personalized lists of suggested member contacts, a “super search” tool to find people with specific profiles or body types, speedier photo and profile reviews, and ICQ, AIM, YIM, and MSN instant messaging. They also get access to the “Cupid” service highlighting new members with matching profiles.
FriendFinder.com is a division of Palo Alto-based Various Inc., with more than 20 multicultural and multilingual personals sites and more than 130 million registered members.
