Playfish Still In Play

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/23/AR2009102302200.html
Last week we reported the rumors that VC-backed Playfish, the social games startup which has had phenomenal growth, was in the process of being acquired by games giant Electronic Arts for $250 million. However, nothing was confirmed at the time, and despite several press reports to that effect none of the companies involved has made a sound. And most observers were startled as Playfish had not looked like it wanted an early exit by any stretch. In fact, we've learned that Playfish is still in play, and in all likelihood EA leaked the $250 million figure as a negotiating tactic. Our sources say that Playfish is holding out for another offer, somewhere between $350m at the low end and $500m at the top end, either from EA or another suitor. Independently, Inside Social Games has uncovered similar chatter.

Zynga Buys GoPets

GoPets, a site that engages users by having them "raise" customizable 3D pets downloaded onto their desktop, was sold to social games developer Zynga, according to a Facebook post by GoPets founder Erick Bethke. Says Bethke on the post: "we have sold our company into Zynga!" Bethke is now working for Zynga in its San Francisco headquarters.

Top MMO's Since WOW

http://www.mmorpg.com/showFeature.cfm?page=1&feature=3615&bhcp=1

Russian Billionaire Blows $52,000 on Lunch!!!!!!

Most people don't make $52,000 in a year -- but Friday afternoon one Russian billionaire dropped that much cash on LUNCH!!!!!

Yogurt 3D Game Engine Is Alive!

http://www.yogurt3d.com/index_en.html

Runescape Payment Method Mix

Offers a good model ... http://www.runescape.com/kbase/guid/billing

Listing The Best European Virtual Worlds

What are the best virtual worlds from Europe? Any thoughts Dear Readers?

Obopay Offers Game Payments

They will kick ass in this huge space.... From http://venturebeat.com/2009/10/28/obopay-moves-into-mobile-payments-for-online-games/#at
Obopay, a mobile payment company funded by Nokia, is announcing today that it is moving into online games so that you can buy items in social network games using your mobile phone. Obopay is one of a number of startups that make it easy to pay for services with a mobile phone. Users can mobilize their credit or debit cards by linking them to a mobile phone number. They can then pay for services by giving their phone number and typing in a PIN code for security. Online merchants like it because it eliminates friction in payments. So far, Obopay has focused on payments between people who have cell phones. It is also powering the new Nokia Money service which you can use to buy cell phone minutes, pay bills, or buy goods and services. Now, with today’s announcement, the company is adding payment for games on social networks such as Facebook. Obopay says there are lots of synergies between powering Nokia Money and handling mobile payments for games. Although it is late to the games market, Obopay has a lot going for it. The company was founded in 2005. Its partners include Nokia, AT&T, Verizon Wireless and MasterCard. Today’s announcement extends Obopay payment system to let people use their phone numbers to make purchases inside games using a credit or debit card attached to the mobile number. The user enters the mobile phone number and their PIN number, without having to leave the game itself. On Facebook, for instance, the user doesn’t have to be redirected to another web site to make the payment. Normally, lots of transactions are abandoned if a user has to leave a web site. With easier ways to pay, users will stay inside games longer, and that means better monetization for merchants. Obopay says that it has an advantage over rivals because the merchants also don’t have to give up a large percentage of their revenue to carriers who fulfill mobile payments via cell phone bills. The new Obopay system is already in use at game companies, which are yet to be announced. Obopay has about 200 employees. Rivals include PayPal Mobile, Zong, Boku, MPesa, and others. Besides Nokia, investors include AllianceBernstein, Essar Telecom USA Limited, ONSET Ventures, Qualcomm, Redpoint Ventures, Richmond Management, and Wolfensohn & Co. In March, Nokia said it put $70 million into Obopay.

Surfpin Looks OK

Check them out if you want a telco payment partner; "Surfpin is a secure payment method which enables customers without credit cards to purchase digital content and services quickly, safely and securely via their telephone. The Surfpin payment method is currently available to more than two billion people across 30 countries and in 15 different currencies, driving global e-commerce. Surfpin can only be used to pay for and access content suitable for all ages and protects the customer's identity. No personal information is required to make a payment, giving greater peace of mind for parents of younger users. Businesses and consumers can find more information about Surfpin at http://www.surfpin.com

Will Wright Hints at His Upcoming Interactive Toy Gig

Maybe he took a hint from PG on the interactive toy opp?; http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2009/10/will-wright-toys-stupid-fun-club.html

"Will Wright is still messing around. The 49-year-old creator of The Sims, Sim City and Spore quit Electronic Arts in April, but he continues to "build things that people would want to play with." Wright is still cagey about what he has up his sleeve, but he's given us a few clues.

Hint #1: It's a toy. Wright will be taking his concept to the New York Toy Fair in February, where he will deliver a talk titled "The Evolution of Entertainment: A Toy's Place" at the Engage! Expo, a conference on the convergence of toys, the Internet, virtual worlds, games and social media.

Hint #2: It will involve games. How could it not? Wright's games have sold more than 100 million copies and generated more than $1 billion in sales for EA, which has invested in Wright's company, the strangely named Stupid Fun Club.

Hint #3: It will have robotic components. "To some degree," he qualifies. "All of our projects have crossover elements. Even calling it a toy makes it too specific." Wright's fascination with robots dates back to when he was a child building model tanks and attaching motors to them.

Hint #4: It will be connected to the Internet. Many toys have developed online components. Ganz's Webkinz, for example, is both an online virtual world and a line of plush toys. Hasbro has collaborated with Electronic Arts to create a virtual world based on the toy company's Littlest Pet Shop line of stuffed animals.

Hint #5: It will rely on crowdsourcing. No surprises there, since The Sims spawned hundreds of thousands of fan-created YouTube videos. Wright cites a toy called 20Q that asks players to think of an object, then proceeds to guess what that object is after asking 20 questions. The program that generates the answers came from a database of questions and answers generated by millions of visitors to a website of the same name.

Still don't get it? Neither do we. But we're still intrigued. Hopefully, Wright will have more to say at The Engage conference at Toy Fair.

-- Alex Pham

Cellufun Globalizes Virtual Currency

Cellufun FunCoins virtual currency are now available for purchase by users in 25 different countries worldwide via mobile billed to the user's monthly mobile billing statement. Current FunCoins one-click purchase coverage includes North America, most of the European Union, India, Bangladesh, Indonesia, South Africa, Thailand, and Turkey. The next territories to receive the rollout will be China and South America.http://www.mobilemarketingwatch.com/cellufuns-mobile-virtual-goods-now-for-sale-4302/

Sarf Studios Website 100%

Planet Sarf is looking good http://www.sarfstudios.com/

Click&Buy Changes its T&C

PG got the following email from Clickandbuy;

"Improving our Terms & Conditions

Dear Mr. XXXXX aka PaymentGuy,
We would like to inform you that we have updated our terms & conditions in order to improve clarity and comply with forthcoming regulations relating to payment services.
The new Terms & Conditions will be valid from 31. October 2009 onwards and can be reviewed under the following link: www.clickandbuy.com

In order to answer this email and/or contact the Service Team, please click here. You will be redirected automatically to our contact form.
Kind Regards,

Your ClickandBuy Team
P.S. Are your address and account details still valid? If not please go to www.clickandbuy.com and log into your ClickandBuy account in order to make the necessary updates."

The Best Virtual World Concept PG Can Think Of ...

... today that is.

How come no one has started a virtual world for Airsofters? Think about it;

1. They have tonnes of spare cash to buy useless stuff;

2. They spend tonnes of time on the internet;

3. They have no real life;

4. There are millions of them WorldWide.

Perfect!

EU Wonks Wake Up to Skype

BERLIN — The European Commission will urge the 27 European Union countries Wednesday to reserve a uniform slice of broadcast spectrum for a pan-European mobile broadband network, one that could enable flat-rate, international voice and data calling plans. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/28/technology/28spectrum.html?hpw

Viva La Fashiown

OWLIENT of France launched an alpha version of its new game, http://www.fashiown.fr :) (ask them for a beta code !)

EA Bought Playfish For $250,000,000???

A rumor but ... Holy Cow! http://mashable.com/2009/10/14/ea-acquires-playfish/

Sequoia Invests in Unity Technologies

Former Blues Brother and now Sequoia Capital partner Roelof Botha http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://i2.cdn.turner.com/money/galleries/2008/fortune/0807/gallery.lashinsky_newkleiner.fortune/images/roelof_botha.jpg&imgrefurl=http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2008/fortune/0807/gallery.lashinsky_newkleiner.fortune/2.html&usg=__v2HwLMxdWtVaP9xz7Ft5eA8b3K8=&h=320&w=240&sz=12&hl=en&start=1&sig2=hJaxcTmPtGDfwWOw6Gy4rg&um=1&tbnid=E5q_xUsXczOVeM:&tbnh=118&tbnw=89&prev=/images%3Fq%3Droelof%2Bbotha%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26um%3D1&ei=bbPmSpesMZCwsAaJ-PziBQ
has confirmed earlier reports of a Sequoia-led $5.5 million funding round with multiplatform game development platform Unity Technologies with the following statement today: "We are very excited to be involved with Unity Technologies at a time when the demand for interactive content continues to grow exponentially," Botha said. "We are seeing interactive content everywhere from game consoles to online virtual worlds and social networking websites. Unity Technologies is pioneering breakthrough products to allow developers to best respond to this demand. They are well positioned to become the standard for high quality content development." The financing round also included David Gardner, the CEO of Atari, and Diane Greene, founder and former CEO of VMware. Botha and Greene will be joining the Unity board of directors. Companies currently using the game engine include Electronic Arts, in Tiger Woods Online, and Cartoon Network in its kid-friendly virtual world FusionFall.

Rebrand the Platform

In many ways, "Second Life" is the worst 2 words to infect the virtual worlds for enterprise use discourse. SL has such a stigma amongst mainstream CEO's that another name, distant from one conjouring images of virtual vampires, submissive Gorean Males http://foo.secondlifeherald.com/slh/2009/09/gorean-feminist-guide-to-second-life-gor.html and other weird kinky stuff for 400 LB shut-ins may do the trick and allow the platform a chance at adoption as an enterprise tool.

But ... "Nebraska"? What a Stupid Name. Wonder what Linden came up with this bizarre nonsensical name. Here is some free advice from PG to LL, rebrand the platform and stay away from anything remotely close to Second Life if you want to stand a chance of selling this to hard core CTO's and CIO's.

Anyway, from VWN; Linden Lab Set to Debut "Nebraska"... "Mark Kingdon, CEO, Linden Lab/Second Life will unveil and demo what the company is calling "the much anticipated behind the firewall’ product from Linden, code named Nebraska. According to Linden lab, "a few enterprise customers will join [Kingdon] to discuss the product and future outlook of immersive, virtual workspaces" in the public demo. The presentation is slated for a mixed-reality event at the Moscone Center and in Second Life. Second Life and Linden Lab observers expect the demo to offer nuts-and-bolts into Nebraska specs, packages, and what ever Linden plans on calling the new stand-alone virtual world package. Kingdon will present during a tech conference in SF on November 4." http://www.virtualworldsnews.com/2009/10/linden-lab-set-to-debut-nebraska.html

Follow PG on Twitter

Hello, new Twitter-er!

Here is your account information.

* Your username: payment_guy
* Your profile: http://twitter.com/payment_guy

Using Twitter is going to change the way you think about staying in touch with friends and family. Did you know you can send and receive tweets (Twitter updates) via mobile texting or the web? To do that, you'll want to visit your settings page (and you'll want to invite some friends).

* Activate Phone: http://twitter.com/devices
* Invite Your Friends: http://twitter.com/invite

The New York Times calls Twitter "one of the fastest-growing phenomena on the Internet." TIME Magazine says, "Twitter is on its way to becoming the next killer app," and Newsweek noted that "Suddenly, it seems as though all the world's a-twitter." What will you think? http://twitter.com

Biz Stone and The Twitter Team
http://twitter.com/biz

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Here Come the Chinese

SHANGHAI — Armed with cash from recent listings, Chinese online game makers are gearing up to play in Western markets, challenging the industry’s leaders, Electronic Arts and Activision Blizzard, on their home turf. Having prospered at home, companies like Changyou and Shanda Games want to join China’s export machine by sending their wares abroad. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/27/business/global/27iht-game.html?adxnnl=1&hpw=&adxnnlx=1256631843-yiduyS8Q+id4Nbsosf5QkA

Gaia Gets Voip

On of the many mistakes Linden Lab made with monetizing Second Life was launching Voice FREE of charge. Let's see if GAIA is smart enough not to make this mistake; "Voice chat is coming to Gaia's free MMO, zOMG, via voice services provider Vivox, the companies said today. With Vivox voice chat, gamers will have clan channels they can use to coordinate game play, trade stories and socialize on. Calling voice the "ultimate glue," Vivox CEO Rob Seaver said the deal shows Gaia's "commitment to providing a truly social experience for its players." David Georgeson, senior producer and creative director at Gaia Online, said, "Chat capabilities add a brilliant new element to zOMG! that will bring players together and create excitement within the community."

Payment Contract Review

Get the best payment contract T&C guranteed or your money back. GMAIL PAYMENTGUY@GMAIL.COM

IMVU Adds to Board

IMVU appointed James Joaquin, formerly a venture partner at Bridgescale Partners, to its board of directors. Bridgescale is a backer of IMVU. “Our board and executive team are excited to bring on someone with such proven success building strong online consumer businesses,” Cary Rosenzweig, CEO of IMVU said. “James’s experience will be a great addition to our board as we continue to grow.” Founded in 2004, IMVU is also backed by venture firms Menlo Ventures, Allegis Capital, and Best Buy Capital.

Stop Working For Peanuts ...

... and start making more money with the hard working folks at Peanut Labs http://www.peanutlabs.com/peanutlabs/ - a solid choice partner when you want to "monetize" i.e. cash-in on that online community of yours.

Here's why;
1.) Surveys. Everyone does CPA offers and leadgen offers and Peanut Labs has the same global inventory of offers and fancy targeting as all the other providers. On top of this, they offer true market research surveys. Surveys are free, clean and no personal information or credit card info are required. Surveys are the DNA of their business and PG understands they are close to owning the social media sampling market in North America:
http://www.insidefacebook.com/2009/05/27/industry-perspectives-qa-with-peanut-labs-coo-ali-moiz/

2) Results. Peanut has been consistently outperforming other providers in AB tests... but of course this is exactly what you would hear from each of them. However, Peanut has the nuts to back this up and their data shows conversion on surveys is usually 25-30% which drives overall conversion up. They also rotate inventory daily (unlike static offers) so many users come back every day to check for new surveys.

3) Service and UI. Read the Forums. Peanut users have a typically better experience getting credited and getting responses with them than others in the space. They seem to be able to get inside your head.

4) Culture. Apparently the Peanut crew party like Rockstars, buy a lot of free drinks and bend over backwards to keep their clients happy. Nothing wrong with that ...

Contact Anya or Ali for more.

Anya Shapina | VP Business Development | anya.shapina@peanutlabs.com
Peanut Labs, Inc. | 114 Sansome Street. Ste 920 | San Francisco, CA 94104
P: 415.608.6323 Skype: ashapina
http://www.peanutlabsmedia.com/

Ali A Moiz | Chief Operating Officer ali.moiz@peanutlabs.com
Peanut Labs, Inc. | 114 Sansome Street. Ste 920 | San Francisco, CA 94104 |
P: 413.884.4072 | F: 413.803.0176 | Skype: ali.xuqa

12 Ways to Pay @ GameKiss

"GameKiss is accepting 12 different payment methods - as diverse as their innovative game titles. The e-wallet category includes PayPal, ClickandBuy, PayByCash and @Cash while all major credit cards - VISA, Master, AMEX and JCB - are accepted. Accepted prepaid cards and e-pins from different regions include Ultimate Card, paysafecard, One Power-Up Game Card, Go Cash Game Card and Wallie. Using such a wide range of payment methods, users can purchase GKash, the cyber currency at GameKiss.com. Gamers can buy with GKash various online items which expands their gaming experience." http://www.mcvuk.com/press-releases/52068/GameKisscom

Ukash Does Deal With Mastercard

Nice one Mark! http://www.finextra.com/fullpr.asp?id=30244

The A,B,C's of the Prepaid Card Opp

Good look at this massive opportunity that banks have shown only lukewarm interest in while small independent specialists have forged ahead with prepaid card initiatives. The article asks the obvious; "Are banks missing a trick?"; "While banks continue to shy away from prepaid cards, retailers and niche suppliers are embracing them. For financial services, prepaid cards are unlikely to ever be mainstream but there are segments that are arguably well served by these products. The current economic environment should be a boost, given the number of consumers being rejected for credit cards. And the potential for incorporating other forms of technology, including contactless and mobile, is interesting. Ken Howes, ex-Mastercard and now a consultant at Edgar, Dunn & Co, believes the ‘killer app’ would incorporate risk management, reduced cost and revenue generation, with prepaid cards having the potential to fulfil these. Risk management stems from the financial control; cost reduction could stem from areas such as payroll, expenses management and benefits; revenue gains could come from transaction fees, enhanced loyalty and value-added services. The last item is arguably the most important. ‘The issue is, can you generate revenue out of added value,’ he asks. http://www.ibspublishing.com/index.cfm?section=features&action=view&id=13460

Fruugo Cannot Make Payroll

Arctic Start-up reports the hardly frugal Finnish eCommerce startup Fruugo is laying off 4 of 10 employees (20 of 50) and may not be able to pay salaries Oct. 15th.http://www.arcticstartup.com/2009/10/07/fruugo-lays-off-40-of-its-employees/#more-9440 Real shame to see Fruugo crash and burn so dramatically. Maybe they can harvest some good ideas and turn it around.

But focusing on "Health and Beauty products" for Finnish customers linked to British shops hardly sounds like a winning strategy. By the way, what do the Brits know about health and beauty anyway?

Sulake Could Be A Major Social Gaming Player

Pssssssst.... did you hear about the Hidden HABBO Treasure? Probably not. Anyway, PGFYI Sulake has a hoard of terrific undiscovered game treasure in HABBO Hotel developed over the years. Yes, there are hundreds of super awesome games developed by Sulake for Habbo over the years which many Habbo's have never played because they are too busy chatting with other Habbos or decorating their Hotel rooms. But this super resource should not waste away hidden in the Habbo Hotel Library.

Rather, Sulake should release its game library on a stand-alone gaming platform and through FaceBook, MySpace, Hi5 and Bebo - not to mention its own social networking site IRC Galleria (maybe port the players of your games from FaceBook and MySpace to IRC once it takes off;?). Bottom Line: Sulake has an in-house developed games library which, if distributed across multiple social networking sites, could turn Sulake into a major Social Gaming Player.
Maybe contract those 30 or so devs your firing to form a social gaming studio to do just this? http://paidcontent.co.uk/article/419-habbo-hotel-parent-company-sulake-lays-off-40-staff/ Just some advice for Sulake management - free of charge.

PG PS: Did you know Sulake has its own social networking site? Probably not ... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IRC-Galleria

PlayFish Pet Society Has More Players Than World of Warcraft

Playfish, a British online gaming company, which has several huge hits, including Who Has the Biggest Brain?. Pet Society, its most popular game, attracts 16 million players a month — more than World of Warcraft.

Sebastien de Halleux, its co-founder, believes that online social gaming eventually could outshine console gaming.

Zynga Is MySpace Game Dev King

Q: Who is the biggest MySpace Game Dev?

A: Playdom is the biggest game developer on MySpace, with more than 25 million monthly active users. In one game, it sold more than $200,000 worth of pink virtual Volkswagen Beetles in two days. http://games.venturebeat.com/2009/10/05/playdom-raising-a-significant-round-of-capital/


And they are raising tonnes of cash. They are now lead by former EA COO John Pleasants who is the new CEO. http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://ceoworld.biz/ceo/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/john_pleasants-ea-playdom.jpg&imgrefurl=http://ceoworld.biz/ceo/2009/06/19/electronic-arts%25E2%2580%2599s-john-pleasants-joins-playdom/&usg=__dhxlP3wPvln2yQ0LeHuxPu0BPXw=&h=500&w=325&sz=92&hl=en&start=5&sig2=7RZU0m1eG29pnAwVxcrUdw&um=1&tbnid=jsh4Iee5Trte6M:&tbnh=130&tbnw=85&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dplaydom%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26um%3D1&ei=DvbjSvuJNIKfsgby8JzWCQ

No wonder they look so happy!

Zynga Oozes Cash

Zynga is generating revenues of more than $150 million (£91.4 million) this year. Not bad for a guy who was "washed up at 28 or 29" http://entrepreneur.venturebeat.com/2009/10/24/zyngas-mark-pincus-i-got-kicked-out-of-some-of-the-best-companies-in-america/

Score Your Payment System

With PG's Payment System Viability Index you can accurately assess whether your payment method mix reaches your target customer group and analyze and predict the effect of adding or removing payment systems and methods. Available for only $250 USD or 200 Euro. GMAIL PAYMENTGUY@GMAIL.COM.

Get Inside Virtual Goods For Only $995 Real Life Dollars

Wonder if they accept Linden $? "Inside Virtual Goods: The US Virtual Goods Market, 2009 - 2010 is a new in-depth research report by Justin Smith and Charles Hudson that is exclusively focused on the size and future of the virtual goods market in the United States. It was released for the first time on October 14, 2009. The big picture? We estimate the total 2009 US virtual goods opportunity at just over $1 billion." http://www.insidevirtualgoods.com/us-virtual-goods/

Pocoyo World Will Be Huge

Just watch, this will be HUGE as it has all the right ingredients for success; a) young family approved audience, b) Spanish demo, c) real world distribution in M&L (cartoons, comics...) and d) media channel (TV). "Pocoyo, the Spanish pre-school animated cartoon series created by David Cantolla, Luis Gallego and Guillermo García Carsi, is getting a virtual world spin-off designed to increase engagement among its pre-school audience. The world, which has a number free zones, also has premium content behind a subscription wall. Brand owner Zinkia has had a team developing Pocoyo World for almost two years, TBI reports. "Pocoyo is a positive and educational for kids and we were motivated to give them more content on a daily basis," CEO Jose Maria Castillejo said. "It was a big risk for us to develop this, but we wanted to give children more Pocoyo content." Zinkia Entertainment owns the brand; Granada International distributes." http://www.licensing.biz/news/4153/Zinkia-launches-Pocoyo-World

Skype Payment Pages ...

... and methods offer a good model for your virtual world or mmo. http://www.skype.com/intl/en/prices/paymentmethods/

5 Global Payment Partners ...

... for your consideration. All with individual strengths and weaknesses of course. But for those of you looking to expand your payment systems with a large international payment provider, PG says check out, in no particular order:

1. Chase Payment Tech: http://www.chasepaymentech.com/'


2. Netgiro http://www.netgiro.com/home.aspx


3. Adyen


4. Global Collect http://www.globalcollect.com/


5. Cybersource http://www.cybersource.com/


GMAIL PG to sort which is best for you and get the best T&C - guaranteed! PAYMENTGUY@GMAIL.COM

ClubCooee Partners With KOINUP

http://blog.koinup.com/2009/09/koinup-is-now-partnering-with-club.html
For those PG Readers un familliar with KOINUP, it is a scoial network for virtual world users. Innovative, unique and cool. http://www.koinup.com/support/about-us/

Wild Tangent Still Social Games Ad King

And they also have a virtual currency ... http://paidcontent.org/article/419-popcap-games-raises-22.5-million-funding-from-meritech-capital-partners/
and you can even play Club Penguin on PC's thanks to Wild Tangent - very cool! http://about.wildtangent.com/static/u/Club_Penguins_on_WildTangent_--FINAL.pdf

Pop Cap Raises An Eye-Popping Amount of Cash ....

Eying the growing popularity of social games, casual gaming company PopCap Games has raised $22.5 million in late-stage funding from Meritech Capital Partners; private investors Larry Bowman (formerly of Apple and Fidelity) and John McCaw also participated. The company plans to use the new money for potential acquisitions in the social gaming space. The new funding round represents a minority stake; a first for outside investors, PopCap says.

Founded in 2000, Seattle-based PopCap has grown into one of the largest casual gaming companies, with mobile and iPhone divisions, as well as deals that bundled its games suite onto new PCs from HP and Lenovo. It offers both pay-to-play and and ad-supported games; it turned over ad sales to rival WildTangent last year. Some of its games, like Bejeweled, have even gained popularity with more “hardcore” gamers (a version of Bejeweled was featured as side activity in World of Warcraft earlier this year). The company says it has “maintained profitability” since its inception; it now has over 240 employees, with offices in Dublin and Shanghai.
http://paidcontent.org/article/419-popcap-games-raises-22.5-million-funding-from-meritech-capital-partners/

Elvis Quietly Leaves The Virtual Building

So Philip Rosedale is starting a new company and leaving Linden Lab but will keep an office in Second Life https://blogs.secondlife.com/community/features/blog/2009/10/15/next-chapter. Kinda sorta big news but this announcement has met with little fanfare or press hype. Just GOOGLE "philip rosedale" in NEWS search http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&source=hp&q=%22philip%20rosedale%22&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wn and you get 3 hits, 2 of which are off-topic and the 1 relevant one being in French. The blogosphere is somewhat more interested in PR's new plans but there is a striking lack of mainstream press attention paid to this. On the new plans, PR says; "I'm starting a new company, and wanted to let you know. It's a big idea - something that actually depends on Second Life existing to get started, and that I have been thinking about almost as long as I've been thinking about Second Life. I don't want to try to explain the idea here, because it is a decision I've just made and honestly I don't think I can do a good job describing it yet."

A big idea that cannot yet be explained. OK... clever subterfuge or just a guy who has not quite figured out what to do from 9-5 yet. PR has consistently said he could make more money "working in Second Life" than "working for Linden Lab". Let's see if this turns out to be true.
PG PS: PR will remain Chairman of Linden Lab

Nokia to Invest in Virtual Worlds

The Wall Street Journal today is reporting that Nokia Growth Partners, with $350 million under management, is actively looking to invest in virtual worlds. Reporting from the VentureWire Technology Showcase in Redwood City, Calif., today, the news service writes that Mary McDowell, executive vice president and chief development officer at Nokia, said the fund is "particularly interested in investing in start-ups innovating in payments and transactions, analytics and advertising, and gaming and virtual worlds." http://blogs.wsj.com/venturecapital/2009/10/13/nokia-development-chief-weighs-in-on-start-ups-global-markets/

Online Monetization "That Doesn't Suck"

PG was contacted by the good folks at BigDoor Media which started in March of this year and closed their Series A round of financing in July. They have been in private beta now for the last two months and have seen really solid results testing their offer platform on 20 different publisher sites and within two iPhone applications. They are now opening their beta and according to their CEO Keith smith; "are excited to continue learning and iterating as we move further down the path of building a platform that gives online publishers better monetization tools." Check out their new site: http://www.bigdoor.com/ blog: http://www.bigdoor.com/category/blog/ and press release: http://www.bigdoor.com/press-releases/oct-14-2009/

Contact Keith Co-Founder & CEO if you want in on the beta:
206-769-3536
skype:keithlloydsmith
keith@bigdoor.com
More on Smith here http://www.techflash.com/seattle/2009/09/zango_founder_emerges_at_the_helm_of_new_startup_bigdoor_media.html

Payment Expertise ...

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Not subtle, often harsh, always effective ... Don't be a wiener - GMAIL PAYMENTGUY@gmail.com!

ONE Prepaid Cards

Open Network Entertainment (ONE) http://opennetworkent.com/about.html has released its ONE Power-Up Game Card with InComm. The card will support online games, social games, and virtual worlds in a way that allows users to redeem only part of the card's value at any particular destination app. Cards are currently available at Rite-Aid Pharmacy across America. http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20091012005223&newsLang=en
This is a JV between American and Korean payment companies with Incomm doing the distribution. The concept is excellent and has some very cool features; players can learn about and preview new games, engage in micro-transactions, pay monthly subscriptions, reload their ONE Power Pay Account. This eliminates keeping track of balances on multiple cards. Some features include:
1. Multiple online destinations; redeem full or partial card balances – The ONE universal card is accepted across multiple properties from games to virtual worlds in which consumers can complete secure transactions across multiple properties in a secure setting. Users must register at www.ONEgamecard.com to support partial redemptions.
2. Value-add promotional items – ONE power-ups the player’s experience by providing added value, from extra points to unique in-game bonus items, when they use the card.
3. Parental power – The ONE Power-Up Game Card empowers parents to control when and where their children spend online. ONE also plans on launching an age/rating specific card that uses the ESRB standards to create a payment experience that operates only on games appropriate to the user’s age.
4. Player education – Consumers can quickly and easily learn about and preview new games, access individual game summaries that provide interesting and useful information, strategies, characters and virtual goods.
5. Easy-to-use interface – Consumers simply purchase the card, visit www.ONE gamecard.com to register with the ONE Power Pay Service and set up their Power Code, allowing them to securely redeem balances from their account, whenever and wherever they want.
6. Flexibility – The ONE Power-Up Game Card platform will support redemptions at participating game, virtual world and social network sites as well as ONEgamecard.com.
Very cool. Now to be successful they need vw publishers and mmo's to sign up...

You Have Until Thursday ...

to pay the IRS. After long and careful consideration and professional advisement, PG reported to the IRS; "Thursday is the deadline for Americans to come clean about the money they have hidden offshore, in places like Swiss bank accounts. No one can say with certainty how much money is out there — the accounts are secret — but the hoard may be tens of billions of dollars. Several thousand wealthy people have come forward, hoping to avoid large fines or possibly even prison. But many others are still weighing their options. The choice is stark: They can confess and pay the penalties, or gamble that they will not get caught. With the deadline only days away, tax lawyers say they are being inundated by anxious clients. “We’re seeing a flood of people,” said Scott D. Michel, a tax lawyer in Washington. His firm, Caplin & Drysdale, has 350 clients who are preparing to report their offshore accounts to the Internal Revenue Service. The firm has 14 lawyers handling their cases, one of which involves a tax bill of hundreds of millions of dollars. The deadline is part of a broad crackdown on Americans who use offshore accounts to evade federal taxes. As part of the effort, United States authorities have challenged the long tradition of banking secrecy in Switzerland, and, in particular at UBS, that nation’s largest bank. The I.R.S. is offering tax dodgers some leniency. Penalties will be reduced for people who come forward by Oct. 15. They will be assessed fines equal to 5 to 20 percent of their tax bills, rather than the usual 50 percent. They also will pay that penalty once, based on the highest balance in their offshore accounts over the last six years, rather than for each of those six years. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/13/business/13irs.html?hp

Standing Out From the Crowd

So you want to launch a virtual world? Or maybe relaunch your existing world? If either, how do you make this virtual world stand out from the crowd? Here are some themes and ideas you may consider;
1. Eco - very niche and currently not (that over-) explored. Why not start with 1 eco-system (e.g.; Rainforest, Jungle) and branch into others, desert, forest, ocean, arctic, resulting in 5 virtual world themes (on the same platform) for variety and brand differentiation? Check out Jumpstart's recently launched MarineLand http://www.jumpstart.com/

2. Education - you can differentiate with eduction and make this world one of the defacto educational offerings for young kids, teens, families, adults and acceptable even in school or college curriculums. Why not?

3. Platformization - you want to build a platform to publish, launch and develop all of your virtual world ideas so it scales. Disney Interactive Group has a portfolio of virtual worlds all on different technologies an platform. You want to harmonize development and distribution over one central infra to scale and deploy for competitive advantage and lean development and production. That said, your payment and merchandise distribution infra and marketing mediums will allow you to publish and springboard new worlds and online (offline) offerings rapidly and cost-effectively;

4. Convergence - you want to not just do a pure-play virtual world (old news) you want to tie in real life content (video, pics of kids and families on trips etc...) so there is a novel augmented virtual and real feel to the places and scenes which fosters more user created content. You want to allow users who take vids and pics and share their own content (safely, easily and anonymously ... with parental approval)

5. Economy & Philanthropy - why not use your virtual economy for philanthropy? Club Penguin has done some good things here

6. open source development - I would consider early on open sourcing some of the platform and develop a network of partners (like Linden Lab created with its developer ecosystem) so other developers, causes, organizations and even big media could use your technology to produce other virtual worlds. Imagine being the defacto standard platform for kiddie/eco/enviro/ virtual worlds while also having your "premium platform" publishing your proprietary portfolio of branded worlds?

7. Mobile - you need your virtual world portfolio to address the mobile angle and how you will allow NOKIA/SAMSUNG/APPLE etc... a mobile entry vector to the world(s).

8. Family - when it comes to kids you want this for family activity so it is mom and dad approved.

9. Global - you want an internationalization plan and country rollout checklist so this is a truly global offering and has innovative language localization and communication features so e.g. kids in Sweden can talk to kids in Spain and German kids to Canadian kids in native languages (think simple BABEL Fish-like Apps)

Just a few thoughts on innovation/differentiation in the crowded virtual world space.

Even MacDonald's is doin' it!;) http://paymentguy.blogspot.com/2009/10/you-know-this-space-is-crowded-when.html

You know this space is crowded when ...

MacDonald's has its own Virtual World http://www.happymeal.com/en_US/ This space is way way too crowded!

Will Mika Salmi Rescue Sulake?

As the new Chairman HABBO, will Mika Salmi rescue Sulake? Did he rescue MTV Networks? http://www.dmwmedia.com/news/2006/11/01/mika-salmi-to-the-rescue-at-mtv-as-new-president-global-digital-media According to sources a "standup guy" who is no doubt a business wizz http://newteevee.com/2009/03/05/mika-salmi-leaving-mtv-networks/, Salmi with Sulake will have his work cut out for him. But being so "anti-establishment" at heart http://www.businessweek.com/2000/00_20/b3681085.htm, he may be more BOBBA than HABBO. Is that a good thing http://paymentguy.blogspot.com/2009/10/kill-bobba-now.html?

Kill BOBBA Now

With a mere 35,150 created accounts since launch http://www.bobba.com/ despite 140,000,000 HABBO's, BOBBA has already tanked. Sulake should cut its losses and kill BOBBA now. What it should do is sell or license the platform to mobile device manufacturers and application providers. PG PS: The BOBBA avatars are simply way way too UGLY! Here is more info on the new Head HABBO or is it Head BOBBA? http://www.virtualworldsnews.com/2009/08/sulake-babbo-confirmed-for-september.html and http://www.crunchbase.com/person/mika-salmi

Mixed Reality Kids Worlds

This is the 1st kiddie virtual world PG has seen that is kinda mixed reality with the inserted video content http://www.binweevils.com/ Very cool! But their SHOP is closed so not sure if they are making any money http://www.binweevils.com/shop/index.html

Action AllStars Membership Plans

PG likes this professional sports themed concept kiddie virtual world Action AllStars http://www.actionallstars.com/reg/membership.jsp But if the point is to drive kids nd famillies to watch and even attend major league sports games, why can't I use my Red Sox Season's pass or redeemed Laker's ticket as a way to get a membership? So if PG and family go to a ball game or we have seasons tickets, why can't we use our proof of pass or even the tickets we used to go to 1 game (normally $50 usd for cheap seats anywhere) as payment for Action AllStars?

Get it MLB.COM? Here is a review of the site http://www.commonsensemedia.org/website-reviews/action-allstars

Disnery Puts $100,000,000 in Kiddie Virtual Worlds

Disney is creating up to 10 different virtual worlds at a cost ranging between $5 and $10 million a piece according to the New York Times. The article is an otherwise solid round up of existing children's worlds and plans, including Nickelodeon's plans to invest $100 million to create virtual worlds and casual games. In a recent keynote, Disney's Bob Iger pointed out that the upcoming Cars virtual world would cost millions, not hundreds of millions to develop, because it is built on an existing infrastructure. That builds on Disney's plans to work with children's changing habits to keep the company's virtual worlds from becoming a fad. “Are features like creating an avatar a long-term advantage for anyone? Probably not,” Paul Yanover told the Times. “The viability and sustainability of this business comes from the shifting behavior of kids and how they spend their leisure time.” [via New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/31/business/31virtual.html?em&ex=1199336400&en=068e5e1dad982be3&ei=5087%0A

How Many Kiddie / Teen Virtual Worlds Are there?

Over 200+ http://www.engagedigitalmedia.com/research/2009/youth-01-26-2009.html
which doubles http://www.massively.com/2008/04/14/kiddie-virtual-worlds-top-the-century-mark/

Vector City Racers Family Subscription Plans Are Very Smart

Cityracers Vector Entertainment just launched its online car racing world Vector City Racers (VCR). In beta for almost a year, and with launch delayed by litigation from Ganz Interactive (Webkinz World) http://paymentguy.blogspot.com/2009/02/webkinz-sues-webcars.html there are now 290,000 player registrations and typically draws 15,000 daily unique visitors http://www.virtualworldsnews.com/2009/10/vector-city-racers-launches.html. PG LOVES their subscription pricing model of 4 membership plans, especially the Family Monthly and Annual: Monthly ($4.95), Annual ($49.95), Family Monthly: ($9.95), and Family Annual ($99.00). Very smart! But their payment pages need a lot of work http://www.vectorcityracers.com/pages/parent/ParentsPricingMembershipPage
They also have a Facebook App that is pretty cool. Check this other review; http://www.familygameronline.com/2009/10/vector-city-racers-now-available-new.html
If I were these guys, I would try and do a deal with NASCAR or F1 even so every family / kid that shows proof of a NASCAR ticket gets a free membership.

The concept can be copied to other virtual worlds with advertising or co-marketing deals where a kid shows proof of purchase of a real life item (ie a receipt) and then uses this as a way to gain a membership, credits or other virual good from the participating virtual world publisher (eg stardoll users show H&M merchandise purchases as a way to get virtual items or memberships ...).

Giveaway Intro Subscriptions ...

To hook new users. PG has always wondered why he has never seen a virtual world operator or mmo's place free intro memberships in freebee newspapers like METRO as a way to boost registrations ... anyone ever seen this done?

Forget Micropayments - Get Them to Subscribe!!!

Same applies with Virtual Worlds; "Convince someone to take a subscription, and the revenue flows in for months to come. “It is amazing how inertia takes over,” says Peter S. Fader, a marketing professor at the University of Pennsylvania. Anyone who has signed up for a gym membership that is paid for but not used understands the genius behind subscriptions." http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/11/business/11every.html?hpw

Card Fraud Up 40% in Finland

Can't blame it all on the Estonians ... http://www.hs.fi/english/article/Credit+card+and+debit+card+frauds+a+growing+problem+/1135249892004
Interestingly, PG finds that these days the Estonians are more Finnish than the Finns being a)often more honest and trust-worthy, b) often more hardworking, c) often more reliable, d) often more sober, and e) often blonder ;)

(Woot Carmen!)

The Right Payment Method Mix

PG gets asked this question a lot: "What payment methods do I need?" So Dear Readers, be advised any and every successful payment network requires at least 3 payment methods from the following categories;

1. Online - e.g. credit cards;

2. Offline - e.g. prepaid cards; and

3. Telco - e.g. premium sms.

The Facebook Payment Guy - Part Deux

So what has Gareth Davis (or is it Davies?) been up to tapping into this massive payment opportunity since PG last outed him http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1FRY654d-9w/Slmk4D2tB-I/AAAAAAAAB-I/xUWX_xB-hGI/s320/gareth-davis-february-09.jpg&imgrefurl=http://paymentguy.blogspot.com/&usg=__31c5FMWMo_OyVffvOA0yIpDre1Q=&h=303&w=320&sz=11&hl=en&start=7&sig2=KHhX2F-PgGzPsB5C9BWmrA&um=1&tbnid=I8H3cbsPEHN-zM:&tbnh=112&tbnw=118&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dgareth%2Bdavies%2Bfacebook%26hl%3Den%26um%3D1&ei=sAPPSq3FKovu-QbtkemMAw and since http://www.americanbanker.com/issues/174_133/-384263-1.html and since http://www.javelinstrategy.com/2009/07/07/facebook-payments-system-facing-uncertain-demand/
and since http://games.venturebeat.com/2009/02/13/gamesbeat-09-preview-an-interview-with-facebooks-top-gaming-dude/
Not a whole lot that PG can tell. Anyone know anything?

Wither Twitter Pay?

We all know, well at least those 5% of the population able to take care of themselves as Governator opines http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x317064, Twitter makes you stupid http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-playing-field/200905/how-twitter-makes-you-stupid Not only that, but PG has noticed the massive popularity of Twitter has dramatically reduced the number, scope and amount of blogs, blog posts and all things blogging. This is a good thing. Most of those who used to blog about all and any thing mundane, trivial or specifically captivating to their own lives are now Twittering.
Famous Twits like Peter and Jordon, or Ashton and Demi now no longer have to blog from their PC with their agents - they can now Twit away anywhere and about anything via their mobile (this is Bruce's boat by the way ... believe it - he always seems to be straining himself with some macho man physical exertions while Ashton seems chill contented and totally relaxed, wonder why??? ;) Truly HOLLYWEIRD!).

PG for one would love it if Oprah herself and her Cult would move exclusively from TV to Twitter. Only true visionary experts should blog, like PG. The rest should Twitter. So what does Twitter have to do with payments? That is the point of this post. Twitter could have the worlds largest mobile commerce infrastructure within days All it needs is X.Y.Z. Farber is onto something here http://news.cnet.com/8301-13953_3-9946150-80.html But Twitter itself does not seem to realize the enormous potential it has to become the largest micropayment network on EARTH. All it needs are 3 things;

1. A virtual currency (let's call them TWIT's shall we?)
;

2. A virtual currency exchange system (where the users can trade, cash in, exchange or convert) Twitter's virtual currency; and

3. A mobile payment application to do this via secure text sms.

VOILA! Now why has some smart Twitter/Hi5/MySpace/Facebook/Payment application provider not done this yet? Why has OBOPAY not partnered with Twitter ? Or why has Twitter not copied OBOPAY?

PG: PS TWITTERPAY.COM is already take by a shrewd Dutch guy who may or may not have Twitter Micropayment Platform plans or who may or may not be just a good domain hunter and squatter http://who.godaddy.com/WhoIs.aspx?domain=twitterpay.com&prog_id=godaddy
Registrant:
Guardio
Johannes Verhulstraat 60
Amsterdam, NH 1053HJ
NL


Registrar: 000DOM
Domain Name: TWITTERPAY.COM
Created on: 02-JUL-08
Expires on: 02-JUL-10
Last Updated on: 02-JUL-08

Why Sulake Loses Money

Since Sulake, publishers of HABBO and developers of IRC Galleria announced its modest profit of approx 1 million euro http://www.arcticstartup.com/2009/10/05/sulake-enjoys-a-slight-profit-for-2008/ followed by its dramatic layoffs of 20% of its workforce http://www.arcticstartup.com/2009/10/06/sulake-to-lay-off-20-of-helsinki-employees/, many pundits have speculated where all the cash and VC funds are going http://ramine.net/2009/03/31/sulake-has-a-problem/
So what the hell is up with this seemingly booming virtual world success story?

Well, to cut to the chase, Sulake, with HABBO alone or its brand extensions (mobile, merchandise, TV, animation etc...) and new products (IRC Galleria) has never made money in its history. This is old news to PG http://paymentguy.blogspot.com/2008/07/100-million-habbos-still-losing-money.html So it should come as no surprise to my Dear Readers Sulake has always, ALWAYS lost money.


Here is why:

1. Fat Operations - HABBO launches most of its hotels in foreign countries the old fashioned way meaning it actually rents offices and hires expensive teams of people to run the local "Hotel". This results in large and excessive operational costs which could be avoided through regional or HQ operational consolidation;

2. Expensive Marketing - Sulake normally partners with a local media concern in international markets (e.g.; Sulake and TTG Group JV in The Netherlands http://www.sulake.com/contact/local_offices and failed partnerships in Russia, Japan and South Korea for example). This means the "local partner" takes about 50% of the revenue generated from the local Habbo Hotel. Some of these deals were so lopsided they actually share revenue (not profits / EBITA based) without deducting expenses so the local partner turns a profit while Sulake Group eats a loss;

3. Failed Advertising - Sulake has for many many years believed in the money making power of online advertising but through inept Advertising deals http://www.allbusiness.com/marketing-advertising/4151158-1.html and "partnerships", despite innovative campaigns (there are many http://www.ebrc.fi/kuvat/hynynen.pdf) has not realized the advertising power of such a large community of Teens, Tweens and young kiddies world wide;

4. Freemium HABBO is a Loser - Despite what its long-term CEO says, HABBO's freemium model bites and loses money year after year http://www.arcticstartup.com/2009/03/30/sulake-corporation-reports-e-48m-profit/ Sulake has never been able to boost its member buying % through a compelling subscription based membership / premium membership plan ala Club Penguin etc... They even know this http://www.pafis.shh.fi/~henjan06/v17.pdf The % of HABBOs that actually spend money in HABBO Hotel is less than 3% globally according to inside sources. It needs a subscription model asap http://paymentguy.blogspot.com/2008/09/sulake-must-offer-monthly-subscriptions.html;

5. Payment Commissions - Sulake with HABBO and IRC suffers crushing payment commissions. Sulake has to eat huge losses from its over reliance on micro-billing / telco (i.e. premium SMS) billing fees. Despite generating 75 million+ micro payment transactions, its average profit margin is less than 60% Sulake's inability to move to card, prepaid and other is FATAL (think interactive toys ala Webkinz) http://paymentguy.blogspot.com/2008/09/virtual-world-payment-trends-2008.html


6. Mediocre Management - Sulake has an insular "veteran team" of homogeneous managers (read "all Finns") running the business which has grown and expanded http://www.sulake.com/company/management?navi=1.3. But after a decade of losing money and delayed IPO's http://paymentguy.blogspot.com/2007/04/sulake-eyes-ipo-in-2008.html they need new blood. HABBO was and still is a Golden Goose. But it needs new leadership and better faster execution of an adaptive strategy if it will ever realize its potential. Why fire all these employees without a management change?

Virtual Worlds News Sucks - Since Joey Seiler Left

Once great, VWN now does suck terribly since off-to-law school Chief Seiler anointed Replacement Feldman http://www.virtualworldsnews.com/

Free vs Fee - The Debate Continues

The saying "there ain't no such thing as a free lunch" was popularised by science fiction writer Robert A Heinlein. But the science fact is that most of the online services and content we use today are a free ride. It is a growing trend. Despite pulling in 5% less traffic than transaction-based websites three years ago, free content sites are now 73% more popular, according to data from Hitwise. http://www.guardian.co.uk/tech-media-invest-100/free-or-fee

Introducing the HABBO Euro Ad Sales Guy

How many Ad sales guys has Sulake hired and fired for Habbo? Countless it seems ... here is another one. Good luck Mate! "Hussain Chowdhury is currently European Sales Director for Habbo UK, France, Holland and Germany. Habbo is a virtual world / social networking site aimed at teenagers. Hussain's media career spans across online, magazines, outdoor as well as cross media. Hussain began his media career at CBS Outdoor's (then known as TDI) Special Projects Division; CBS Impact where he worked on various outdoor innovations and ambient media projects. Hussain then moved to the award winning Bauer Creative Solutions Team (formerly Emap) where he held several posts across FHM, Arena, The Face magazines and different disciplines across a variety of integrated cross media campaigns spanning across magazines and online as well as utilising other areas of the portfolio that included events, radio and TV. Hussain worked with clients as diverse as Audi, Adidas, Electronic Arts, Scottish & Newcastle, Blackberry, Nintendo, Apple and many more.

Hussain¹s most recent role is at Sulake, Finnish virtual world/social networking experts and creators of Habbo. Sulake are specialists in building successful online communities in the youth space. Habbo features clients as diverse as Coty, 20th Century Fox, Sega, COI, Warner Bros and the NSPCC. Hussain heads up Habbo's advertising teams across Europe. http://www.guardian.co.uk/megas/judge-hussain-chowdhury

WonderRotunda Is Pretty Cool

PG likes WonderRotunda https://www.wonderrotunda.com/. Very cool and educational. Aaccording to Founder Garfinkel interviewed in The Washington Post; "he didn't do a lot of market research as he was developing Wonder Rotunda; he mostly came to this space as a concerned father. "My daughter was spending time on Webkinz and Club Penguin," he said. "They weren't as constructive as I thought they could be." http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2009/09/26/ST2009092600907.html
PG loves the Park Pass payment concept - https://www.wonderrotunda.com/checkout.php billing by Cybersource's Authorize.Net http://www.authorize.net/

WebKinz Trading Cards ...

... should also come with secret codes so they serve as payment methods ;)

Club Penguin Membership Cards Are Great But ...

CP has been a huge success. But it's payment network could also use some work. It is conspicuously absent of proven offline payment methods e.g. prepaid cards like Wallie, UGC, etc.... Check the CP Payment Method Mix https://secure.clubpenguin.com/membership/faq.htm#method-accept With its owner's huge retail distribution network (for those of you ignoramouses out there CP is owned by Disney and is part of the very successful and pioneering Disney Interactive Group) they do cover the US nicely with its own branded prepaid cards or "Membership Cards" https://secure.clubpenguin.com/membership/membership_cards.htm And they do offer them in the UK at Sainsbury's. But why not extend their payment network reach by adding other prepaid methods? Bet they would sell a lot of memberships through Wallie Card in The Netherlands or Ukash in UK for example. And why are they not selling their gift certificates in Euros and other currencies and only making them available in USD? Strange ... So comment here if you want CP to add more prepaid cards http://support.clubpenguin.com/help/contact/billing.php

Second Life Hires New VP to Help SL Residents Get A Real Life

Second Life, today announced the appointment of a Vice President of Web Development. New in the role is Robin Ducot, previously at Adobe Systems where she held a post with the same title. The hire falls syncs squarely with Linden's expressed goal of "extending the value of Second Life beyond the virtual world and helping Residents more closely integrate Second Life with their daily lives." To that end, the company points to the recent acquisition of Xstreet SL which added an ecommerce component to the virtual world and the launch of AvaLine, a service that lets SL residents receive cell, landline or VoIP calls inworld from people outside Second Life. http://www.virtualworldsnews.com/2009/08/second-life-accelerates-mainstreaming-with-hire.html#more

BOKU Gets "Bigger" By Expanding to Teeny Finland and Tiny Taiwan

Via VWN "Mobile Pay Provider Boku Expands Reach" http://www.virtualworldsnews.com/2009/09/mobile-pay-provider-boku-announces-partners-expansion.html
Boku-logo Monetizing the virtual world experience is one of the significant legs a virtual world and avatar-centric business model stands on. Among the fastest developing trends is the leveraging of mobile numbers and the billing relationship users have with their service provider as a means to facilitate inworld purchases, among other transactions. Mobile payment start-up Boku today announced a number of partnerships in the sector, including deals with Hi5, Meez, Offerpal and WeeWorld, and expansion into a number of far-reaching markets, including Finland and Taiwan. VirtualGoodsNews.com has the full story.

In a Sale, Skype Wins a Chance to Prosper - But Only If It Beefs Up It's Payment Network

Skype must immediately focus on beefing up its international payments infrastructure to start cashing in on its user base. What if every major prepaid card could offer skype credits for example? Anyway, here is a good look at Skype's future options since its sale by BRAD STONE; "SAN FRANCISCO — With its sale to private investors, the online calling service Skype has thrown off the last of the shackles that limited its growth and potential as a unit of eBay. Now its challenge is to turn its global popularity into bigger profits. EBay announced on Tuesday that it was selling Skype to a group led by Silver Lake Partners, a private equity firm in Silicon Valley. As part of the deal, which values Skype at $2.75 billion, the buyers agreed to pay $1.9 billion in cash, which includes a loan from eBay of $125 million, for 65 percent of the company. EBay, which is based in San Jose, Calif., will retain a 35 percent stake. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/02/technology/companies/02ebay.html?_r=1&hpw

SmartyCard Sets New Price Points

SmartyCard is adding subscription-based rates to its pricing options, the company said today. The idea behind the move is to help parents take the guess work out of topping off a child's SmartyCard account (and for parents who might forget to fund a child's account). SmartyCard responded to its summertime surveys and has made a basic subscription available at $6.95 per month for 5,000 points. A three-month subscription plan provides 5,000 points per month and the six-month subscription plan provides 6,000 points per month. Virtual worlds that use SmartyCard include Zwinky Cuties, Bella Sara, Club Penguin, and Stardoll.

PCI Compliance ...

Reports that companies involved in some of the latest data breaches were PCI-compliant continues to spark discussion of whether PCI is a solid measuring stick for overall security. Industry observers say yes, but businesses need to change their check-list approach. http://www.eweek.com/prestitial.php?type=rest&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.eweek.com%2Fc%2Fa%2FSecurity%2FPCI-Compliance-Only-the-Start-of-Security-365170%2F&ref=.

Linden Lab Family Tree

Stumbled upon this ... quite illustrative of Linden Lab's recent Management restructuring.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3618/3421940266_3c75901860.jpg?v=0

PayPal Opens Door to Developers

PayPal on Thursday opened its online payments system to third-party developers so they can embed a variety of PayPal payment mechanisms into Internet-based services.
The widely used payment provider, a division of eBay, formally announced the Adaptive Payments System at its Platform Preview Event in San Jose, California, after confirming some details about it earlier this month. PayPal began making APIs (application programming interfaces) available to developers and will add "dozens more" later this year, said Osama Bedier, vice president of platform and emerging technology. "PayPal will be the first and only global payment service open to third-party developers," PayPal President Scott Thompson said at the launch event, which was webcast. The company intends to help developers implement payment tools that go beyond traditional e-commerce purchases to support a wider variety of services.

"Innovators like you need (to) and should get paid for your great concepts," Thompson said. Without an easy way to sell online services around the world, only a few innovators will bother, he said. Adaptive Payments includes a variety of tools for creating new payment tools. For example, it allows one payee to take its cut of a customer's payment and then split the rest among partner companies. Developers can also separate transaction approval from payment so the payment can take place offline or in some other setting with another approval, Bedier said. Adaptive Payments could also support payments over set-top boxes or mobile gaming platforms.

The company waited this long to introduce the developer program because it needed to make sure PayPal's security was strong enough, Bedier said. Some observers say PayPal is catching up to Amazon.com, which already offers APIs that give developers many options for using its payments platform. PayPal claims it has about 75 million active accounts in 190 countries, making payments in 19 currencies. The expansion of Internet-based services beyond traditional online shopping represents a big opportunity, according to PayPal. Several companies joined PayPal with plans to use or support Adaptive Payments. Most notably, Microsoft said it will enable developers to embed PayPal payment systems in applications developed and delivered on Azure, its cloud computing infrastructure due later this year. TwitPay, a startup offering payments on Twitter via PayPal accounts, is a beta tester of Adaptive Payments. It used PayPal's APIs to create capabilities such as making a single payment that is split up among several recipients, said TwitPay CEO and cofounder Michael Ivey. Among other things, TwitPay allows users to settle debts, run up tabs and get paid for Twitter-based applications, he said.

LiveOps, another beta customer, uses cloud computing to bring together teams of call-center operators who work at home. LiveOps is expanding its offerings to include services such as transcription, translation and document review. The new service, called LiveWork, has been collecting payments with a system based on Adaptive Payments for several months, said Michael Neril, senior director of LiveWork business development. It was easy to integrate the payment system into the LiveWork service and took just a few days, Neril said. Developers can apply to get involved in the beta program for Adaptive Payments through x.com, PayPal's developer site. Through "code and build" sessions in the next few months, about 300 will be admitted by November, the company said. Beta users can use the platform for payment systems on live, commercial services. On Nov. 3-4, PayPal will hold its first developer conference, PayPal Innovate X, in San Francisco. The beta program will expand further after that, but PayPal won't give a date when Adaptive Payments will emerge from beta. http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/168978/paypal_opens_door_to_developers.html

The Economist Covers Kiddie Virtual Worlds

Virtual worlds for children
Online playgrounds

Jul 23rd 2009
From The Economist print edition
There is life in virtual reality after all

REMEMBER Second Life, the virtual world that was supposed to become almost as important as the first one? Now populated by no more than 84,000 avatars at a time, it has turned out to be a prime example of how short-lived internet fads can be. Yet if many adults seem to have given up on virtual worlds, those that cater to children and teenagers are thriving. Several have even found a way to make money.

In America, nearly 10m children and teenagers visit virtual worlds regularly, estimates eMarketer, a market researcher—a number the firm expects to increase to 15m by 2013. As of January, there were 112 virtual worlds designed for under-18s with another 81 in development, according to Engage Digital Media, a market research firm.

All cater to different age. http://www.economist.com/businessfinance/displaystory.cfm?story_id=14098380

Gaia Hires Zong for Mobile Payments

Teen virtual world Gaia Online and mobile payment service provider Zong today announced a deal that introduces the option for Gaia users to purchase the site's virtual currency, Gaia Gold, with their mobile phone number. The agreement will make it significantly easier for the eight million people who visit Gaia monthly to buy virtual currency, and then digital goods, on the site. "We’re confident that Gaia Online's teen-based membership community will find Zong to be even easier than a traditional credit or debit card-based payment, and this partnership underscores the tremendous economic potential of the high-growth virtual goods industry," David Marcus, founder and CEO of Zong said in statement. http://www.virtualworldsnews.com/2009/07/gaia-teams-with-zong-for-mobile-payment-option.html#more

Playspan Launches Virtual Goods Store on MySpace & FaceBook

Well done! "Micro-payments across the gaming world is gaining serious traction, especially on social networks. PlaySpan, which powers micro-payments across over 1,000 video games and virtual worlds, is launching marketplace storefronts for Facebook and MySpace (which will be rolled out soon). The marketplace will which let users purchase online game items, virtual goods, and game currencies for online games and applications directly from their social networks.

What makes the marketplace interesting is that you can buy, trade, and sell goods within the marketplaces on Facebook and MySpace and then use the items in online game environments. And making a transaction on the marketplace becomes a whole lot more social, as your friends may be able to see it on your NewsFeed. PlaySpan, which recently acquired micro-transaction app developer Spare Change, has processed more than $50 million worth of micro-transactions through its PayByCash and Ultimate Game Card products. PlaySpan also raised $16.8 million in a series B funding last Fall from Easton Capital Group, Menlo Ventures, Novel TMT Ventures, and STIC. The startup was founded by a 12-year-old, Arjun Mehta, but it is actually run by his father, CEO and co-founder Karl Mehta.

The recent acquisition of Spare Change now makes sense. While PlaySpan’s focus so far has been within games and virtual worlds, it made a recent deal to power micropayments on hi5. Spare Change, on the other hand, powered micropayments across 700 social networking apps on Facebook, MySpace, and Bebo, and at the time of its acquisition was on its way to processing $30 million worth of transactions this year.

It seems like these days everyone is getting into micropayments, and the number of players are scaling quickly. With continued expansion on social networks, startup PlaySpan can become a serious player in a space where bigger players like PayPal, Facebook and MySpace are all considering making a move. The competition may be stiff but as micropayments start to integrate with consumers’ social graphs, but there seems to be the potential for more than enough opportunity for both startups like PlaySpan and Zuora, and the more established players.
http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/07/16/playspan-launches-virtual-goods-marketplace-on-facebook-and-myspace/

Facebook's Payment Guy

is ... Gareth Davies, who says stuff like ""We get a lot of requests to provide a platform-based monetization model. We want to help developers succeed as best as we can and also help users have a great experience. We have a gift shop on Facebook.com that enables our users to buy gifts using a virtual currency called Facebook Credits. And that's done very, very well for us. We're thrilled with that business, and it's growing... People love to buy [virtual] gifts and give them to their friends. It's a very fun, engaging activity. And so, having seen the success there and hearing the requests from developers that this would be of interest to them, we have begun testing the user Facebook Credits by offering them to developers, so that users can use Facebook Credits in an application to buy things. We're very early on in the test there, and so far, the results look good. We have a handful of apps live today."
http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=24378 He has without a doubt the payment industry's biggest window of opportunity with the Facebook user base and developer network to do truly game changing and innovative thing sin the world of payment. But so far you ca only buy Facebook credits with Credit Card. Will be interest to see whether he and his Facebook Payments Team come up with beyond the same old same old. Stay tuned...

A: Why is the Linden $ the most succesful virtual currency?

A: Because Linden and its exchange network (partnered and 3rd party) provide a mechanism for people to convert their electronic funds back into real dollars. So after selling virtual goods in Second Life you are able to turn that into actual value in your real life.

Q: What is the most succssful vrtual currency?

A: The Linden $.

VC's & Mobile Payments - Round 11

All about the current VC lust for mobile payment miracle providers .... http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/22/technology/22pay.html NOKIA put 35 mill usd into OBOPAY last March

RIXTY Now In 10,000 Retails Spots

Well done Rixty!; "Paying for online entertainment without a credit card just got easier, thanks to Rixty. The innovative e-commerce company launched today its new cash-based payment system at more than 10,000 retail locations. Now anyone with cash and coins can convert that money into online purchasing power across an exciting array of entertainment merchants."

Good Vid on Gold Farming

http://multimedia.asiaone.com/Multimedia/News/Story/A1Multimedia20090711-7195.html

KidsCom.com, Partnering For Virtual Kids Universe

This is quite cool and smart. Kinda like Disney Interactive Group and its portfolio of virtual worlds, Kids.com is partnering with virtual world publishers to launch a network of kiddie virual worlds under its brand. So far the virtual worlds, Faithful Friends (see FF TV hosts - quite hot MILF's...), Primary Games, Elf Island and robotics maker WowWee Groups Virtual Animal Care Center. Four additional virtual worlds will be added to the KidsCom.com Idea Seeker Universe in the next month according to Jori Clark. http://pr-usa.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=236676&Itemid=28

KidsCom.com, which launched in 1995 and is the internet’s longest-running online family oriented community, is partnering with other virtual worlds, gaming sites, content providers and consumer products companies and real world destinations to create one safe and fun Virtual Universe.

“Since we have earned the trust of parents due to our history of supporting COPPA and CARU guidelines and because we have consistently delivered on our promise of being the place where their kids could Play Smart, Stay Safe, Have Fun™, we realized the time had come to create a network of partners that follow those same standards," describes Jori Clarke, founder of www.kidscom.com, now the Virtual Universe for kids and tweens. "With the ever expanding list of virtual worlds available for kids to play online, we know that many parents don’t have the time to review all of the options. They can be comfortable in the knowledge that every addition to our world will adhere to our mission statement.”

KidsCom.com has been seeking out partners with content that offers families wholesome fun for their kids, as well as an opportunity to do good in the real world or to bring families together in play. Each partner contributes a unique and fun play experience: Television and virtual world integration; toy and virtual world play support; online and offline “do good experiences”; novel approaches to game play. The following worlds and play options are now available in the Virtual Universe at KidsCom.com:

The Faithful Friends TV show, presented by Drs. Foster and Smith Pet Supplies on Animal Planet, provides to pet owners veterinarian advice and tips on subjects including health, nutrition, behavior, travel, new and aged pets, horses, fish & coral and birds. In the virtual world, kids have had the opportunity to watch TV clips and meet up with show co-host Electra Mustaine or leave messages for her on her avatar Idea Seeker home page. Faithful Friends is a copyrighted trademark property of Heads & Tails, Inc. and is created by Tony Loiacono.

Primary Games, created by teacher Susan Beasley, is a gaming site that offers kids, educators and parents access to learning games and activity pages that can be used in home and school settings.

Elf Island is a site that promotes good deeds with “Good Quests” that promote learning and giving back to others. While offering the fun virtual experience kids want, Elf Island is uniquely dedicated to instilling redeeming values and social responsibility, with a “mirrored gaming” concept that transforms online games into real world actions, including building houses in Honduras, protecting polar bears in the Arctic, sharks in the Galapagos Islands and more.

WowWee Group Limited has established a virtual Animal Care Center for their award-winning brand of WowWee Alive™ plush animal babies. The huggable and life-like plush animals, which come “alive” in response to loving attention, can be fed and heard as kids play with them online. Two Online games – animal matching and trivia - provide kids with additional opportunities to interact with the WowWee Alive baby animals.

Four additional virtual worlds will be added to the KidsCom.com Idea Seeker Universe in the next month.

For more information, please visit the Company's web site at www.kidscom.com.

Media Contact
Jori Clarke
Circle 1 Network
414.271.5437 (office)
414.305.7742 (cell)
Jori.Clarke@circle1network.com

ClickandBuy says ecommerce retailers should offer more payment options

Well, they would say that of course ... "According to a recent study conducted by YouGov and commissioned by German online payment service ClickandBuy potential sales are being neglected by some of the UKs largest e-commerce sites and online retailers due to the lack of different payment methods available to customers. The survey says that more than 50% of regular online shoppers will cancel a potential purchase if their preferred payment method is not available. The study makes a review of what options can large retailers offer to their consumers apart from traditional Visa or other credit cards. Thus, it was noticed that while many smaller retailers offer PayPal (and it’s something consumers have grown to expect), practically none of the larger retailers offer this to their customers. Those utilizing Google Checkout have an extra button on their Adword ads asserting this, which, according to Google, increases the amount of clicks these ads receive by 10%. This is a great option to address those dubious about submitting their credit card details to an ‘unknown’ entity. In a sporadic move Kiddicare have made it possible for their customers to pay for goods with cash by buying a voucher and entering the voucher code during the check out process. The vouchers are available from over 21,000 pay points throughout the UK, including many petrol stations and local newsagents. The reason for this new mode of payment is customer demand, as explained by Scott Weavers-Wright, partner at Kiddicare, via silicon.com. “We get about 400 or 500 calls a day and 300 or 400 emails a day, (and) we do get questions on ‘is there an alternative payment?’ and it’s definitely increasing” Often the reason consumers are looking for alternative payment methods to the standard Visa card is the lack of trust they sense towards a website. Consumers should be reassured whilst visiting a site in regards to security and privacy, particularly through the checkout process and product pages; so the inclusion of a genuine VeriSign logo confirming this is essential. Displaying company contact details (ideally physical address, email address and telephone number) also significantly helps, assuring people there’s somewhere to turn if anything should go wrong. Whilst the fear of online crime and fraud maybe more prevalent than the actual realities, online retailers need to offer customers the ability to pay for their purchase through their preferred payment method, if they want to maximize their sales and profit." http://www.ecommerce-journal.com/news/15966_clickandbuy_says_ecommerce_retailers_should_offer_more_payment_options

Wee World R.I.P.

How lame; WeeWorld Honors Farrah Fawcett, MJ from VWN; "Never mind how Farrah Fawcett died (hmm, explain that to a 12-year-old), she died. On Thursday of last week to be exact. Now, it's time to react -- with pangs of nostalgia, with tears, and with virtual goods."http://www.virtualworldsnews.com/2009/07/weeworld-honors-fallen-stars.html#more
She was the best thing to come out of Texas since Shiner Bock however ...

ONVERSE Runs On Ramen

In development for over a year and a half, virtual world Onverse opened its doors to users just last week. The five-person team launched on a shoestring --"on savings, family and ramen noodles," http://www.virtualworldsnews.com/2009/06/qa-onverse-ceo-steve-pierce.html Sorry Dear Readers (and Onversians...), but there is nothing new with this virtual world. Same old same old ... With such a competitive space over-saturated with kiddie and teen virtual worlds, you better get used to the Ramen, because it does not seem likely your world will make any dough. PG has an old hot pot stored from college days he can mail you guys to keep your noodle fix goin' ... Hate to be a prick. But you are doomed to wither and die i.e. FAIL unless you differentiate. Try doing something different - like tying in augmented reality via mobile content like vids and photos and sms's/twitters for a mobile centric virtual mixed reality world using your Onverse platform ... or just add frozen vegetables to your Ramen every now and then for variety.

HABBO Study Shows Competitors More Popular ... Than HABBO!

Sulake makers of Habbo released its annual Global Habbo Youth Survey Brand Update which in typical Sulake ass-backwards fashion shows its competitors are more popular than HABBO itself; "The study, says Habbo, explores teens' connection and interests toward individual brands and highlights their preferences in categories including consumer electronics, music, sportswear, and games. On the game/virtual worlds front, Runescape maintained its number one status among US respondents, followed by Gaia Online, IMVU, World of Warcraft, and Club Penguin.http://www.virtualworldsnews.com/2009/06/study-runescape-gaia-online-imvu-most-popular-with-us-teens.html

Linden Lab Hires Too Many Too Soon

Linden is hiring way too many people way too soon. Virtual worlds for the enterprise is still 2 years away... What is really funny is how many of these Linden Folk slog off to work in a real life office cubicle rarely employing their own virtual world for work ... Second Life rarely works like its supposed to and even no-life shut-in 400lb Virtual Vampire Role players complain about its reliability so what Fortune 500 Company would actually serious consider using the same buggy virtual collage of technology to run inside their own company? And still keep their job that is. We all saw what happenned to Renaud and EPredator http://paymentguy.blogspot.com/2009/02/epredaotor-becomes-econsultant.html: "Is the eminent roll-out of Nebraska, the virtual world-in-a-box being developed at Linden Lab, responsible for the company's rabid pace of hiring? According to the San Francisco Business Times, Linden Lab has hired nearly 30 people since the beginning of the year, with 25 of the hires devoted to the marketing and development of Second Life products for enterprise customers. And still there is a need for 18 additional staffers, according to the company. But just how many of those new and upcoming hires are related to LL's standalone version of Second Life designed to run behind a company's (or school's) firewall, the company wouldn't say. One thing it would disclose is that pricing for the product is due to be revealed this summer."http://www.virtualworldsnews.com/

Payment Contract Review

PG has reviewed and closed over 500+ payment contracts over 150 payment vendors over the last 10 years. Probably more than anyone on the planet. So why do it yourself when all this expertise is just a GMAIL away? Much smarter to get your payment deal T&C professionally reviewed by Payment Guy at a flat fee. Guaranteed to save and make you money or your money back! Don't sweat the details - contact paymentguy@gmail.com - and get the best deals. PS: PG will also review your existing deals and help you renegotiate them. You may be paying more and making less than you should.

Building Payment Networks - Part 5

So you have your biller built (or bought) http://paymentguy.blogspot.com/2009/04/building-payment-networks-part-2.html, your accounting software tied in http://paymentguy.blogspot.com/2009/04/building-payment-networks-part-3.html, your planned payment method mix planned http://paymentguy.blogspot.com/2009/05/building-payment-networks-part-4.html, so now you need to choose the best payment partners per payment method. Of course the easiest way to do this is to let let PG help you (email paymentguy@gmail.com) but you can also try and sort it all out yourself. Here is a checklist for assessing payment partners;

1. Financial Due Dilligence - Credit Check them by running a Dunn & Bradstreet check (normally less than $24 or ask for a recent audited financial statement to see how their financials are so they do not go broke after taking money from your customers;

2. Technical - do a technical due dilligence by having your biller bitches check out their Integration manual and specs. If they suck technically in reality or just the opinion of your billing bitches who will have to agree with your choice to do the work to integrate and manage the service - pass;

3. SLA - insist on a SLA (most payment companies have them but deny it!;

4. Legal - review the T&C making sure a) deal is non-exclusive so you can deploy identical or similar partners and methods; b) deal terms let you back out with short notice say 30 days, c) choice of law is your home turf and not in a place where you could never litigate successfully or cost effectively (there are lots more points but this gives you an idea what to look for). If you use a lawyer get him / her to quote you a per contract review and closing fee 8do not get ripped off by agreeing an hourly rate as you may pay 2K plus just to get a payment contract reviewed by a lawyer who has never done one before of a payment company you choose not to use - so save this for last after you do your own high-level check;

5. Commercial - get multiple offers and bid them off anonymously against each other (a,b,c payment companies pitch you and you pitch them back until you reach a best deal) and watch for such things as with-holding funds (some mobile payment companies keep 90 days payment traffic) and high chargeback processing fees and do not pay a flat fee for deal closing as this is just the sales guys way to make cash so insist on a revenue share model;

6. References - check their industry references with other virtual world operators and online content sellers.

Of course, this is just a high level check list, to do it right GMAIL paymentguy@gmail.com who has negotiated 500+ of these payment deals over 50+ payment vendors. Or you can go it alone and sweat the details yourself ... Good luck!

Say Hello to PG's Moldovian Girlfriend ...

Well, their beer is crap but Moldovan pizza is surprisingly good!

Beware Dave Walker!

A GMAIL PG recently received from notorious scammer Dave Walker - no relation to this Walker who is a Good Guy; "This is to officially inform you that (ATM Card Number;5299751493779935 with a fund worth 2.8 Million Dollars has been accredited in your favor,Please Contact Mr. Dave Walker (mrdave.atmdpt@gmail.com) With the following,
Full Name:Delivery Address: Age: Occupation: and Phone Number: Best Regards.
Mr. Dave Walker"

Wizard 101 Sells Prepaids in 7-11

KingsIsle Entertainment announced today that its Wizard101 virtual world had registered over 2 million unique users. To support those users--and monetize them--the company is also launching $10 prepaid cards in 7-Eleven stores across the nation.

How Sulake Makes Cash From Habbo Credits

It's all here Dear Readers! http://www.pafis.shh.fi/~henjan06/v17.pdf

Wanna Work at Sulake?

... if you do check out http://www.sulake.com/careers/open_positions/view?id=229
... if you are successful you will work for Li Ma or (is it Li Nieminen?)

eCommerce Manager - Helsinki/Finland

We are looking for a motivated individual to join the Sulake Payment Support unit in the Helsinki Headquarters. eCommerce Manager will work closely with Director, Payment Support to carry out the following main tasks:

· Make eCommerce related business analysis, share findings and introduce good business practice with relevant business units.
· Conduct market research, identify innovative payment methods, design pilots, formulate the business model to improve monetization, identify new business opportunities and formulate associated business plans.
· Participate in global payment partnership management and deal negotiations.
· Plan and execute eCommerce related projects.

eCommerce Manager will also work closely with other HQ units, namely Development, Finance, Habbo Product, Marketing and other business units. eCommerce Manager reports to Li Nieminen, Director, Payment Support unit.

Key Competences:

· BBA or MSc degree in business studies
· Proven track record in International online business or eCommerce business area
· Good analytical and presentation skills. Proficiency in using Excel or other research analysis tools.
· Confident self-starter, pro-actively and independently carry out tasks and willing to develop skills and capability.
· Willing to work both in planning and execution.
· Demonstrate problem solving and negotiation skills
· Fluent spoken and written English are must. Other language skills are a bonus.
· Good communicator & a team player

To apply for this position, please fill in the online application form no later than 17 May 2009.

Apply now

Building Payment Networks - Part 4

So now that you have your biller built (or bought) http://paymentguy.blogspot.com/2009/04/building-payment-networks-part-2.html and you have licensed and integrated your accounting software to your biller http://paymentguy.blogspot.com/2009/04/building-payment-networks-part-3.html, you need a plan.
This boils down to choosing the right payment method mix per payment system. In any successful hight-profit margin payment system targeted at a diverse demographic of kids, teens, moms and dads, you need a wholeistic approach to payment method selection to create the widest possible payment network reach. Basically, you need to cover the 3 main payment categories which are;

1. Online Payment Method (s) i.e. Credit Cards, Internet Bank Payment(s), PayPal;

2. Offline Payment Method(s) i.e. prepaid cards, e-voucher/e-pin code generators; and

3. Telco Payment Method (s) (mobile sms, IVR).

This should be replicated in each market / region via a consistent systematic approach. To do this you either a) integrate to a turnkey hosted payment network provider with a diverse portfolio of payment methods in your home market and / or internationally, or b) do it yourself.

Our next blog post in this series http://paymentguy.blogspot.com/2009/04/building-payment-networks-part-1.html will describe in more detail how you can go about selecting partners per method.

Building Payment Networks - Part 3

So once you got your biller built (or bought) you need to tie in some accounting software (like Netsuite)to manage your cash flow. Here are some good options;

1. Basware


2. iScala


3. Netsuite

Netsuite is most popular and a good option to investigate. Tell 'em PG sent you ;)