Alternative payment methods, such as Carrier Billing, are particularly relevant to enable international payments and to facilitate the global internationalization of digital services. These payment methods are becoming a key driver for Merchants to expand into new markets in an agile and secure way.

Let’s have a closer look at the 4 main reasons why Merchants should address Carrier Billing for service internationalization.

1. High adoption of mobile payments and mobile Carrier Billing

Online purchases are increasingly being performed on mobile devices. 451 Research estimates that online purchases conducted on mobile devices accounted for 51% (USD 2.4 trillion) of the total in 2020, a share which will grow to 53% (USD 2.8 trillion) in 2022 and 64% (USD 5.2 trillion) by 2025.

The pandemic has also amplified the shift to Mobile Payment across many markets worldwide, as consumers seek to avoid exchanging cash and touching payment terminals. We are in front of a mobile driven society where users demand immediacy and convenience when making their payments.

Based on this new mobile economy, we can state that Carrier Billing is a payment method with huge potential. It allows users to pay for digital services as part of their mobile phone bill, offering them an enriched purchasing experience. Carrier Billing enables a fast, easy and secure online payment flow and spares users from sharing their personal data or banking information online. For these reasons, it provides a great opportunity for Telcos to increase their revenues and for Merchants to achieve higher conversion rates.

When talking about payments, a frictionless experience refers to the reduction of steps involved in the checkout process. New consumer habits show how users progressively demand a streamlined shopping journey in which they need to spend as little time as possible to complete a transaction.
Alternative Mobile Payment methods (One-Click Payments, DCB, e-Wallets, Contactless…) offer exactly this kind of experience. Carrier Billing, for example, is the preferred one since it can register and charge the user through just one single click. It reduces the payment process x5 compared to credit cards.

2. Direct Carrier Billing Global Reach

With more SIM cards than people in the world, Direct Carrier Billing (DCB) is the payment method with the widest reach and key for internationalization.

Anyone with a mobile phone can make payments with Carrier Billing. It is the best option for companies looking to expand in under-banked markets, such as some countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America, where there is low credit card penetration, while most people own a smartphone.

In countries with more mature economies, the DCB is a real opportunity for digital Merchants, as this payment method is perfectly adapted to the type of service and user experience.

Carrier Billing is a payment method available worldwide. Its global coverage, coupled with its intrinsic advantages of security, simplicity and speed, make it a real alternative in the global payments ecosystem.

3. Easy, secure, and scalable expansion

As merchants explore ways to internationalize their services in Africa, Asia or Latin America, they look for solutions that help them do so at the lowest possible cost and in the simplest way. Carrier Billing provides no-cost, simple, secure and scalable expansion.

A single connection to mobile operators to expand into new markets, acquire new customers and increase conversions.

To make this possible, it is important to have a glocal (global and local) partner that with a single connection allows Merchants to connect to multiple communications operators internationally, but also has a local presence to respond to technical, cultural, regulatory and financial specificities of each region. In this way, a Merchant only needs to connect via an API to expand its business internationally without incurring any additional cost in technological, physical or legal infrastructure.

4. Local Currency Settlement

Thanks to the explosion of e-commerce, international transactions offer enormous growth potential for Merchants. According to a study published by EY, the total flow of cross-border payments globally is growing at around an CAGR of 5% and is forecast to reach $156 trillion by 2022.

These international and global payments involve not only banks. They connect companies, individuals, banks, and settlement institutions operating in at least two different countries with different currencies that need to be paid.

In the specific case of Carrier Billing, scaling up the business and carrying out international payments is achievable.

For this to be possible, most merchants need to have payment partners and aggregators who have a local presence in the different countries, as in many cases a local presence is required in order to be able to carry out invoicing activities.

At Digital Virgo we eliminate the complexity of local taxes, foreign exchange or remittance to quickly settle payments for Merchants offering to them a single point of contact to manage their global financial flow.

Our Glocal Footprint

At Digital Virgo our global footprint and local expertise is a fundamental aspect for the success of the global strategies we propose to Telcos and merchants worldwide.

We deploy our mobile payment expertise in more than 40 countries: Italy, France, Spain, Ivory Coast, UAE, Morocco, Portugal… Our local presence allows us to understand the cultural, technological and regulatory specificities of the countries in which we operate.

With a single API we connect merchants to more than +150 Carriers worldwide making them easily accept and scale mobile payments globally.

Are you looking for ways to expand your digital service? Contact us