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Fortumo Launches Subscription Billing for Windows Phone & Windows 8
[December 09, 2014]

Fortumo Launches Subscription Billing for Windows Phone & Windows 8


The mobile payments company Fortumo is today announcing that it has launched subscription payments using carrier billing for Windows Phone and Windows 8. Developers building apps for Microsoft (News - Alert) platforms can now increase their subscription payment coverage by enabling carrier billing for users without credit cards in 83 markets.

"Digital content merchants like Spotify (News - Alert) and Hulu are struggling to enter emerging markets as the lack of credit cards in these regions results in only a fraction of people becoming paying users. While Fortumo already helps app and game developers grow their revenue through in-app purchasing, subscription billing enables a wider range of developers to increase their payment coverage on Windows Phone (News - Alert) & Windows 8," said Martin Koppel, COO of Fortumo.

Fortumo is currently in the process of rolling out subscriptions country-by-country. Initially, developers can start using recurring billing through mobile payments in 20 countries, among them Brazil, France, United Kingdom, Sweden, Romania, India and others. This means developers can immediately extend their payment coverage to more than 1 billion end-users without credit cards.

A recent infographic from Fortumo reveals that the biggest countries for carrier billing spending on Windows Phone are Brazil, France, Argentina, Italy and Vietnam. Internal data from Fortumo also shows that Windows Phone usrs tend to spend more on apps than Android (News - Alert) users: the average transaction size on Windows Phone is $2.05, compared to $1.44 for Android apps.



Fortumo's carrier billing solution is used by more than 300 developers on Microsoft platforms, including leading game studios like Game Insight, Joybits, Creative Mobile, Games2win, Octro, Happy Elements and Boyaa.

Fortumo offers a native-looking in-app purchasing SDK for Windows and Windows Phone apps that only requires the user to have a mobile phone to complete payments: no additional registration or credit card is required.


Fortumo's in-app purchasing SDK supports the sale of single items, virtual credits and subscriptions. The Windows Phone 8.0 and Windows Phone 8.1 versions of the SDK can be used in C# projects, Windows Phone 8.1 version can also be consumed from C++ projects. Fortumo also provides carrier billing for developers using Unity 3D or Cocos2d-x. The SDK supports over 40 currencies and is localized into 32 languages.

Mobile operator billing with Fortumo is designed to complement Microsoft Corp.'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.

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 at http://fortumo.com.

About Fortumo

Fortumo allows any merchant to set up payment processing for web and mobile services, games or apps. Users with a mobile phone are then able to make one-click payments using Fortumo without the need for a credit card: payments are charged to their mobile operator bill instead. Fortumo payments are cross-platform and work in PC applications, web services and HTML5, Android, Windows Phone and Windows 8 apps. Fortumo supports payments in 83 countries through 300 mobile operators, including a number of exclusive direct carrier billing partnerships. Founded in 2007, Fortumo has offices in Estonia, San Francisco, Beijing, Shanghai, Delhi, Mumbai and Singapore and is backed by Intel Capital (News - Alert) and Greycroft Partners.


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