Google Play is now supporting carrier billing with Globe Telecom as another option to pay for apps, in-app items, books, movie rentals and everything offered by the internet giant’s store.
Globe Telecom is the first network in the Philippines to support the feature, allowing its subscribers to shop from Google Play and pay for the download using their prepaid load or monthly postpaid bill.
The service has been rolling out since 20 August and is scheduled to be complete by this week to be exclusively available to Globe Postpaid, Prepaid and TM customers. To date, Globe as yet to appear on Google’s official list of carriers that support direct billing.
“We have fully integrated with Google and Google Play, and we are the first carrier in the Philippines to roll-out direct Google purchases so that everybody here with a smartphone, everyone with an Android, everyone who wanted to buy a game, tool or app now have an opportunity to do that,” Peter Bithos, Globe Telecom’s chief operating advisor, said during Globe’s first Digital Lifestyle Expo last week.
A GfK survey in 2013 found that nine out of 10 (91%) smartphones sold in the Philippines run on Android, showing the enormous potential market of Google Play in the country. But Filipinos have largely stuck with free apps since most do not own a credit card. According to the CIA Fact Book in 2013, only 4% of Filipinos own credit cards.
Eliminating the need of a credit card to purchase premium content on Google Play is an undeniable boon not just for Globe but also for the bustling app developer community in the country now with the means to monetize content. It also opens the doors for mobile e-commerce, which has yet to take off since it has also been hampered largely by limited paying options.
At the end of June this year, Globe had 2.1 million postpaid customers, up 10% from 1.9 million at the end of June last year. Globe Prepaid recorded gross acquisition of 7.9 million in the first half, a 27% improvement from 6.2 million a year earlier, bringing total Prepaid subs to 19.3 million.
No comments:
Post a Comment