Viaplay launches direct carrier billing with Fortumo

The video streaming service Viaplay and the mobile payments company Fortumo announced the launch of a direct carrier billing partnership. Users can now purchase access to both Viaplay and Viaplay Sport by charging the payment to their mobile phone bill or deducting it from their prepaid SIM card balance. The first market where the payment method has been rolled out is Estonia.

“Direct carrier billing complements our existing payment methods - credit card, monthly invoice, PayPal and bank link. As Fortumo is a leading provider in this field with unique expertise, we decided to launch mobile payments in intense co-operation,” said Tanel Taal, CMO at Viaplay.

“Carrier billing offers a fast and safe option for digital content purchases. Users can complete payments in a few seconds without logging into any additional accounts, which leads to higher conversion compared to bank-based payment methods. We are proud to have been selected as a partner by Viaplay and look forward to increasing their revenue through mobile payments,” said Andrea Boetti, VP of Global Business Development at Fortumo.

Viaplay is using Fortumo’s turnkey Hosted Direct Carrier Billing (HDCB) product to give users access to its services. In the back-end, HDCB is directly connected with mobile operator APIs used by digital merchants such as Google and Spotify. This gives merchants payments capability on par with credit cards in terms of flexibility and technology: for example, the capability of 2-step charging, dynamic pricing and automated refunding.