The global network of millions of interconnected computers is the heart of the Internet—and the phone lines needed to connect them are its life’s blood.
Practically everyone who has access to the Web has access to a phone or mobile device, and if you are not offering phone billing options, you are missing out on a whole new source of income. Billing by phone has proved to be an effective payment solution for consumers worldwide who do not have a credit card or do have one but prefer not to use it for online purchases.
Since the telephone is still an essential utility that acts as a lifeline to the outside world, people tend to pay their phone bills on time, which is why phone billing works. International telcos effectively act as payment collection agents on your behalf. In those countries that support those telcos, the surfer calls a local premium (1-900) number, which is charged at a premium rate. In countries that don’t support them, the surfer makes a regular international direct dial (IDD) call to a country with whom the processor has a revshare agreement in place with the telecommunications carrier. When his phone bill arrives at the end of the month, his online purchase is hidden among the other, less contentious uses, such as calling up Grandma to wish her a happy birthday.
Furthermore, the URL of the underlying website visited will never be quoted, thus eliminating the need to explain to anyone any questionable charges on the bill. This is another small but crucial reason that phone billing is popular with surfers. It’s quick, convenient, and—above all—anonymous, which is great for a spontaneous purchase.
When choosing a processor with whom to partner for such billing, it is important to choose one that works with surfers who only have one phone line. Several solutions exist out there that grant surfers access to your members area while they simultaneously are connected to a premium number. However, given the fact that the surfer needs another line for connection to the Internet, such solutions are wholly inadequate for the majority of the world’s surfers that do not have the luxury of multiple phone lines.
Since people tend to pay their phone bills in full, chargebacks are very rare. Ironically, as with mobile adult services, the one notable exception to this rule is the U.S., where consumers are not obliged to pay the 1-900 element of their phone bill. Still, the world is a big place, and given the global nature of the Internet, the sooner you start offering phone billing as an additional option on your join page, the better for the surfer (and his sense of privacy), your company, and your bank manager.
Marc Jarret is the business development director for Password-By-Phone.com.
