Fortumo Developer Program Provides Up to $25K to Enhance Windows Phone and Windows 8 App Development

Fortumo has announced new a developer program for Windows Phone and Windows 8 apps. Developers who integrate Fortumo in-app purchasing to their app will receive an advance of up to $25,000 from Fortumo to cover their integration costs. The program is also open to successful iOS & Android developers who bring their apps to the Windows platform. 

Fortumo in-app payments enable customers to charge digital goods purchases to their mobile operator bill. Mobile payments are a strong alternative to credit cards, especially in emerging markets. There are four times more mobile phones in the world than credit cards and in countries like Brazil, Russia, India and China, credit card ownership is as low as 15%.

Mobile operator billing with Fortumo is designed to complement Microsoft’s own payment solution. For Windows Store, Fortumo provides mobile payments in 81 countries and over 300 mobile networks. For Windows Phone Store, Fortumo extends Microsoft’s existing mobile operator billing reach by adding a number of emerging markets in Latin America, Eastern Europe, Asia, Middle-East and Africa with low credit card penetration.

A number of developers including Rovio, Zeptolab, EA Mobile and Gameloft are using Fortumo for in-app purchasing on Windows, Android, HTML5 and other platforms. By covering integration costs, Fortumo wants to highlight the significant revenue opportunities of adding mobile operator billing also on Windows Phone and Windows 8.

Fortumo offers native-looking in-app purchasing for Windows and Windows Phone apps that only requires the user to have a mobile phone – no additional registration or credit card is required. It supports over 40 currencies and is localized into 32 languages.

Fortumo offers self-service setup with no monthly fees or minimum volume commitments, allowing any developer regardless of size and location to sign up for an account and get started with mobile payments.