Text2Pay Merchant System Upgrade

Our development team has been busy like bees working on upgrading our Merchant system. Not only does it look fantastic, but we have increased functionality within our dashboard to allow you to find what you need faster. The key changes include:

• Merchants can now export a transactions list in CSV format.
• Merchants can download revenue statements from their account.
• Changes were made to the Terms and Conditions regarding revenue payments.
• Subscription statistics were added to the dashboard.

Restricted content is now allowed in limited countries as follows:

• Lotteries/Gambling: Bahrain, Czech Republic, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Syrian Arab Republic, United Arab Emirates and Yemen.
• Auctions: Australia, Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, South Africa, Syrian Arab Republic, United Arab Emirates, UK and Yemen.
• Competitions: Australia, Bahrain, Czech Republic, France, Hungary, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Syrian Arab Republic, United Arab Emirates, UK and Yemen.
• Trivia: Australia, Bahrain, Czech Republic, France, Hungary, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Syrian Arab Republic, United Arab Emirates, UK and Yemen.
• Tangible / Physical Goods: Australia, Belgium, Cape Verde, Croatia, Ecuador, Germany, Hungary, Iraq, Korea Republic, Malaysia, Netherlands, Peru, Romania, Slovenia, Sweden, Taiwan, United Arab Emirates, Vietnam, Albania, Austria, Bosnia/Herz., Chile, Czech Republic, Finland, Greece, India, Ireland, Kuwait, Mexico, New Zealand, Poland, Serbia, South Africa, Switzerland, Thailand, UK, Yemen, Argentina, Bahrain, Canada, Colombia, Denmark, France, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Jordan, Macedonia, Montenegro, Norway, Portugal, Singapore, Spain, Syrian Arab Republic, Turkey and Venezuela.

These content regulations are now shown when merchants setting up their price points in the ‘setup campaign’ process.

Direct Billing News

We have released price points in Canada. The price points are: $0.99, $2.99, $3.99, $4.99, $5.00, $9.99, $10.00, $15.00, $20.00, $25.00, $30.00, $35.00, $40.00, $45.00, $50.00. You can setup your new campaigns to use these price points via your merchant portal now!

We’re also now live in France and Spain! France (FR) Direct Carrier Billing (DCB) is ready for all Merchants to use. Price points include EUR2.00, EUR3.99, EUR8.99. Merchant approval is required by carriers. Spain’s (ES) price points include EUR7.26.

Premium SMS News

We have expanded our global coverage for our Premium SMS Billing service to include operation in Albania, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Belarus, Estonia, Ghana, Israel, Kirgizstan, Kosovo, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Moldova, Nigeria, Russia, Slovak Republic, Tajikistan and Ukraine.

Subscriptions

We are proud to announce the release of subscription services through Text2Pay. This will allow you to bill users in selected countries daily, weekly and monthly. This offers your users regular virtual currency / goods top-ups without the need to manually complete a transaction.

Supported countries include: – AU, BE, CH, CZ, HK, ID, MY, NL, SG, SI, TH, TR, ZA (and coming soon: – CA, ES, FR, UK, US). Log in to your merchant account now to setup your subscription campaigns quickly and easily.

OLX Partnership

Text2Pay has partnered with OLX, a global online classifieds, offering users a convenient and secure way to pay for classifieds via their mobile phone. OLX users will now be able to pay for featured listings by entering their mobile number and be charged directly on their mobile phone bill. This partnership will provide OLX users increased diversity and added value when purchasing extra features.

Tap2Pay Updates

With developers in mind, we have made some performance and functionality improvements to Tap2Pay. Tap2Pay now has additional support for Direct Carrier Billing and PIN type payment methods.

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Text2Pay is proud to announce our nomination in the Direct Carrier Billing Category for the 2013 CNP Awards which is being held May 22 in Orlando at 2013 CNP Expo. More than 40 companies are competing to identify the best of the best.

Do you know the difference between Premium SMS (PSMS) payments and Direct Carrier Billing (DCB)?

There are many kinds of mobile payment platforms; however two main categories are Premium SMS transactions and Direct Carrier Billing.

Premium SMS utilises the same messaging ability as normal SMS, with one very unique difference: the end consumer, or subscriber, is billed for the message sent directly to their handset with the purchase added to their mobile account bill, or debited from their prepaid account.

Subscribers can be billed in two ways:

1. MO (mobile originated) messages are billed when a consumer sends an SMS to a premium short code.
2. MT (mobile terminated) messages are billed when a consumer receives an SMS on their handset.

Once a successful payment is posted, merchants can authorize the release of goods or service agreements. This payment process is instant and virtually accessible from anywhere. Premium SMS guarantees security and offers reliable transactions for both the merchant and the consumer.

Direct Carrier Billing, is another method of paying for merchandise by charging the purchase directly to the consumers mobile phone account (or deducts off their prepaid account), without the need to bill the user via PSMS MO / MT. More than often, Direct Carrier Billing offers higher price points to charge users as well as higher payouts from Premium SMS.

Both Premium SMS and Direct Carrier Billing require the user to confirm their purchase and prove they have authority to bill the mobile number they have entered. This is done via PIN authentication, MO confirmation or Header authentication (only applies to Direct Carrier Billing where the user is on their carrier’s mobile data network).

PIN authentication requires the user to enter a 4 – 6 digit number that was sent to their mobile via a standard or bulk rate SMS.

MO authentication requires the user to send an SMS to a short code with a specific keyword.

Header authentication only requires the user to ‘tap’ or ‘click’ a button to confirm their purchase. Identification is done via the carrier mobile data headers which contains the consumer’s mobile identity.

Our look back at the key achievements from the industry’s leading names continues.

Our 12 Days of Christmas feature continues, as we look at 12 of the leading companies currently operating in the industry…

Today’s 12 Day’s of Christmas feature takes a look at what has been a milestone year for mobile billing company Text2Pay.

2012 has been an especially busy year for Text2Pay, with a number of key launches and announcements made over the past 12 months. One of its most notable launches came in the form of Tap2Pay, a HTML5 web mobile payment flow, which also integrates for in-app payments on Android devices.

The company has also added over 50 countries to its Premium SMS Billing coverage list, while its billing platforms have been embraced by online gaming communities, dating websites and brands that except donations.

Meanwhile, Text2Pay enjoyed a successful year on the awards front, having picked up the Mobile Payments Award at the Australian Mobile Awards and receiving a nomination at the 2012 Mobile Merit Awards. It has also sponsored some key industry events this year, acting as a Silver Sponsor at the Apps World Conference in London and a major sponsor at the iDate Conference in Los Angeles.

Elsewhere, the company updated its Merchant system to streamline the navigation process for merchants, while making it easier to monitor revenue streams and setup campaigns.

Text2Pay is also revamping its website, which will be launched in early 2013.

Customers are increasingly using their mobile phones to pay bills instead of reaching for their credit card. Mark Reiken’s booming start-up Text2Pay hopes to make the transaction safe, quick and easy for both customers and merchants.

Since launching, Text2Pay has grown by an impressive 50 percent a month and will service 80 countries by the end of 2012. The award-winning business enables customers to securely pay for goods on their mobile phone with a single tap. The cost is then charged directly to the user’s mobile phone bill.

It sounds like a bulletproof concept but there were still a number of hurdles for the company to overcome. CEO Mark Reiken tells us more.

How did you get the idea for Text2Pay?

Text2Pay was born out of the need for a global mobile billing platform that is easy, quick and secure for all merchants and users. People are tired of lengthy credit card transaction sign ups – Text2Pay’s In-App product, Tap2Pay, alleviates this problem with 1-Tap Billing. It is seamless billing at its core.

What kind of growth is the business enjoying?

Text2Pay has experienced solid growth throughout 2012. We added over 50 countries to our Premium SMS and Direct Carrier Billing coverage list. Tap2Pay won the Mobile Payments Award at the Australian Mobile Awards. We revamped our merchant system to make it easier for merchants to set up campaigns and our Text2Pay billing platform has been embraced by numerous online gaming communities, dating websites and brands that accept donations.

What’s the most challenging thing about the mobile payment industry? 

Merchants are concerned about the revenue share amount and settlement time. Mobile carriers still keep up to 50 percent of the revenue, which limits the use of mobile payments and does not compare to other alternative payment systems or credit cards. For mobile payments to become a true alternative payment option, the mobile carriers need to reduce their revenue share to between five and 10 percent and reduce the settlement time.

One of our other challenges is educating users about how easy and safe it is to use a mobile billing platform like Text2Pay. The technology is not new, but people are still in a credit card frame of mind. It literally takes seconds to set up a campaign in our easy-to-use merchant system which also has in-depth tracking and analytics.

What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned so far?

To never give up even when something doesn’t work out the way you had planned. And always follow what you set out to do without letting external influences misguide you.

Tell us more about your global expansion?

We have added over 50 countries to our list of global billing networks. This proves that merchants and users from all corners of the globe are embracing mobile technology and specifically, direct carrier and in-app mobile billing. We aim to double this list in 2013 so Text2Pay can reach even more customers through virtual currency and services networks.

Are there any entrepreneurs you look up to?

I’d have to say Richard Branson for his tenacious audacity and willingness to keep pushing on. He’s gone from music to space travel. A true inspiration and role model for all entrepreneurs.

What tips would you give to someone starting a new business?

Stay focused on your business goals and set clear objectives. No matter what gets in the way, persevere and you will achieve your goals. And never aim too high!

What’s next for Text2Pay?

We are reporting month-to-month revenue growth and we aim to push our revenue higher as we approach the New Year. We have an aggressive global growth strategy with a goal to service 80 countries by the end of this year. We’re continuing to expand Text2Pay and always looking for ways to make our merchants’ lives easier. We have just revamped our website and have an exciting 2013 ahead of us.

Text2Pay is proud to announce that we were a Silver sponsor at the recent Apps World Conference in London on 2-3 October.

The show was a great success with 1700 exhibitors and over 5000 attendees. Our team met with loads of great people and gained many valuable contacts.

“Sponsoring such a prestigious event like Apps World provides great brand recognition and allows us to meet valuable contacts from the mobile payment industry”, Michael Reiken, Global Marketing Manager of Text2Pay said.

Text2Pay also sponsored the iDate Conference that took place in Los Angeles in June of this year.

Check out some of the photos from the conference below!

1. First of all, could you please share with our readers more about Text2Pay and how it came into being? Why a mobile SMS billing platform?

Having been in the mobile space for over a decade, we saw the market need for a global billing platform, which can be readily available to merchants and end-users. Text2Pay was developed to provide an alternate payment solution for online, mobile web & in-app companies. Text2Pay makes it easier for consumers to pay for virtual goods and services by using their mobile phone. With strong security and high conversion rates being the most important factors, our goal is to make the customer’s payment experience enjoyable, easy and secure.

 2. Within Text2Pay’s current business model, the focus seems to be on the online segment. How does the mobile channel fit into this picture?

The mobile web landscape has exploded over the last decade so it made sense to incorporate a global mobile billing platform into a space that is so prevalent in today’s society. Everyone uses their phone to  browse the web, play games and interact with family & friends and purchase goods & services. With mobile phone usage exploding, merchants are looking for frictionless alternate payment methods to sell their virtual goods and services. Merchants can take advantage of mobile payments to enable new revenue streams outside of credit card billing. We leverage direct connections with mobile carriers and aggregator around the world to ensure Text2Pay is globally available to as many merchants and customers as possible.

3. Could you tell us more about Text2Pay’s Tap2Pay service? How exactly does the process of integrating Text2Pay mobile payments into merchants’ mobile sites or applications work?

Tap2Pay enables merchants to integrate mobile payments into their mobile site or application. The Tap2Pay solution offers single tap purchasing through carrier billing, with built-in support for one-off and subscription items for virtual currency and goods transactions. It integrates with web and mobile sites on iOS, Android and Windows Mobile platforms via an HTML5 payment flow. This payment system allows merchants more control over their user interface and revenue stream. It’s an easy frictionless flow.

Tap2Pay enables developers to integrate mobile payments into their application with a simple API and Java Library. All you need to do is download the Tap2Pay Java Library and paste it into your Android application project build path. It’s that easy.

4. Text2Pay uses customers’ phone numbers to allow them to make payments. Couldn’t this be liable to fraud? How is security ensured if a person steals another’s mobile device?

There is no way for Text2Pay to know if a mobile device has been lost or stolen. Similar to a credit card when a mobile phone is lost or stolen it should be reported to the appropriate mobile carrier immediately to avoid fraudulent use. We obviously have fraud controls in place that limit transaction volume and we monitor irregular patterns to catch fraud early. We suggest that all mobile phone users protect their mobile phone with a PIN as to restrict access to the mobile device in the case that it is lost or stolen.

5. What user segments does your company target?

Text2Pay can be implemented across almost any application and be targeted towards most demographics – really, anyone with a smartphone can use our payment platform. Our clients include dating services, online gaming and file share websites – they all truly maximise our payment flow and provide an extra service to their customers. Text2Pay can be used for a whole plethora of virtual products and services. Any company that accepts small to medium sized payments looking to expand their revenue streams will have a greater chance to acquire new clients. Implementing another payment option will always be attractive to new or existing customers.

6. Have you set any transaction limits in order to deal with fraud risks?

Each country and carrier we work with have a different set of transaction limits that need to be followed respective to that countries rules and regulations around providing mobile services.  What makes the Text2Pay platform so great, is that we have built in all of this compliance so the merchant does not need to worry about it.

7. You have got quite some competition in the online payments market. Could you please specify some features that set Text2Pay apart from other similar direct billing services providers?

Unlike other mobile payment services, Text2Pay offers a higher revenue share through direct carrier billing. Merchants can share in between 75%-80% of the revenue in markets such as UK, US and Germany. Our payout rates are monthly, which means revenue generated in June gets paid in July. We are continuing to expand and develop our direct billing relationships to enable us to offer higher revenue shares across more markets.

We have also developed a robust and comprehensive online statistics and analytics platform that enables real-time tracking of live campaigns. This platform enables our merchants to view statistics across all markets from an easy to read dashboard. Merchants can also drill-down into transactions to view statistics in greater detail.

One of Text2Pay’s defining features is the ability to ‘white label’ or customize the payment flow. Merchants, who want to retain branding throughout the entire billing process, can customize our payment flow to suit their brand; i.e. adding their logo, theme colours.

8. What are some of the main obstacles you have encountered so far? What are the top three concerns raised by merchants and individuals when choosing Text2Pay to make payments?

One of the most common concerns raised by merchants is the revenue share amount and settlement time.  Mobile carriers are in some cases still keeping up to 50% of the revenue, which limits the use of mobile payments and does not compare to other alternative payment systems or credit card.  For mobile payments to become a true alternative payment option when compared to credit card the mobile carriers need to reduce their revenue share to between 5% – 10% and increase the settlement time to a few days.

9. What next steps does your company plan to undertake?

We are reporting a month-to-month revenue growth and we aim to push that figure higher as we approach the New Year. We have an aggressive global growth strategy with a goal to service 80 countries by the end of this year.

In-app and mobile-web billing provides users a fast secure way to pay for downloads as well as offering developers and merchants a new way to generate revenue.

In-app mobile billing is continually gaining traction across the industry as developers search for the sweet spot of revenue generation and customers crave fast secure payment methods. In-app mobile billing engages premium SMS (PSMS) and direct carrier billing (DCB) to offer a quick, easy and secure method to sell virtual goods and services, process billing and other transactions, and smooth SMS integration.

In-app billing provides a fast and easy way to pay for digital currency and goods online with a mobile phone, without needing to exit the application itself. Tap2Pay, developed by Apps World Silver Sponsor Text2Pay, offers single tap in-app purchasing through carrier billing, built-in support for one-off and subscription items along with virtual currency and virtual goods transactions. The Tap2Pay solution integrates with mobile sites on iOS, Android and Windows Mobile platforms via a HTML5 payment flow. This payment system allows merchants more control over their user interface and revenue stream.

For app developers, in-app payment capabilities are a source of increased revenue. Typical premium SMS billing can have the developer sending around 50 percent of revenue to the carrier while in-app billing carriers take about 10 to 15 percent. With companies that offer in-app transactions, merchants can enjoy a white labeled billing process that emphasizes their brand, as well as customizable price points – features that are not necessarily available with PSMS billing.

Developers who incorporate in-app payment features into their applications give the end user an element of convenience, which in turn encourages loyalty and positive word-of-mouth marketing. Through a simple import, developers will find easy integration of in-app billing into their work.

In-app purchasing not only gives developers more options for revenue generation, it also makes it possible to combine free and paid services in one application, as opposed to providing separate free and paid apps. In the end, it equates to increased revenue for the developer.

For more information about Tap2Pay, please visit their website.

Michael Reiken, Text2Pay Global Marketing