Virtual world payment trends 2008 - Post 3 (Building a Mobile Payment Network)

Continuing PG's extremely popular look at the top 10 payment trends so far in 2008, we dive into that most promising, confusing, baffling, yet essential payment method of all - mobile payments. This payment method is PG's 08 trend 2.;

"Premium SMS - still huge in Europe but dwindling in popularity in Asia and still relatively unadopted in North America but huge potential in USA and Canada. Critical in South America with absence of other reliable payment methods"

Everyone and their mother knows you absolute gotta make money from all those 100's of millions of mobiles, otherwise known as cellphones in the USA. So PG will cut to the chase, spare the Juniper analysis http://paymentguy.blogspot.com/2008/09/juniper-research-total-mobile-payments.html and Gartner dredge on the emerging mobile payment industry and tell yo uthe bottom line step by step guide to start building. launching and deploying a money-making mobile payment network;

Step 1 - Deploy Onebip

Marko Maras and his team at Onebip are doing amazing things making it easy for merchants like virtual world operators, mmo's ... to quickly deploy, scale and manage an international payment infrastructure. Onebip is simply the fastest, easiest, most economical and thus best way PG knows to start offering mobile payments. So here is a tip to PG's dear readers, get Onebip! You can check out their demo at https://www.onebip.com/consumer/uk/?page=366
This gives a good overview of their mobile billing system. They are very different from companies such as mBlox, IPX, Netsize… which sell connectivity. Onebip is a consumer oriented mobile payment service that narrows the gap between mobile billing and credit card processing. The benefits of this approach are; a. for consumers https://www.onebip.com/consumer/it/?page=513
b. for merchants https://www.onebip.com/merchant/?page=187
Onebip security guarantees the highest billing rate in the market with the lowest charge back. Their customers include: Ijji, Aeriagames, Habbo Hotel, Gameforge, Bigpoint, Travian, Roliana…. So if you want to start making mobile money, contact Marko at Onebip!
Marko Maras
V.le Monte Nero, 84
20135 Milan Italy
Phone: +39 02 5410 2771
Fax: +39 02 5412 4323
Mobile: +39 339 455 4544
www.onebip.com
Email: marko.maras@onebip.com

Step 2: Deploy a good local partner in your core market like a MyThumb in Canada

an Air2Web in USA, etc... PG can help you if you need recommendations on country or region specific mobile payment partners.

Step 3: Deploy a global mobile connectivity partner that offers billing services in multiple countries. The better providers in PG's experience include;

a. Ericsson IPX - excellent people, excellent service, excellent technology

and backed by SonyEricsson unlike the other start-up and small cap SMS billing companies. And their Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish and other sales girls are hot!

















b. Cyclelogic - best connectivity pan Latin America with CEO Miguel Ordonez a great guy to work with and truly one of the most knowledgeable experts in the mobile payment industry and knows the Latin American / Hispanic internet business landscape inside out;

c. Verisign - smart aquisitions like the MQube http://www.mobile-tech-today.com/story.xhtml?story_id=42219 and 3United deal give them excellent international connectivity and emerging market know-how (http://news.cnet.com/VeriSign-buys-3united-Mobile-Solutions/2100-1033_3-6038979.html
)

Some other companies in this space worth mentioning are;

Mobillion - do not expect these Dutch cheapskates to even buy you lunch after closing a 10+ country connectivity deal but they have low rates and know what they are doing;

b. Netsize - if you can stand the French C'est la vie approach, they could be a good value-adding partner for you and Stan Chesnais the CEO and Founder is a cool and smart guy.













So that is that on building a global mobile payment network. Contact PG is you are confused and he will solve all your mobile payment worries.

See related posts on 08 virtual world payment trends here:

http://paymentguy.blogspot.com/2008/09/virtual-world-payment-trends-2008-post.html

http://paymentguy.blogspot.com/2008/09/virtual-world-payment-trends-2008.html