Mobile payments company Fortumo says it is expanding its carrier billing services to three new African markets namely Ghana, Algeria, and Tanzania.
All three markets where Fortumo has launched have extremely low credit card penetration: Algeria has about 6%, Ghana at 0.9% and Tanzania at 0.7%. This means while people can access online content, most of them are unable to make payments for paid features of these services.
“Africa’s digital ecosystem is quickly growing and we are seeing strong interest from international merchants who want to expand their activities there. While each day a large amount of new smartphone owners are coming online, collecting payments from these users has so far been a challenge. Our expansion in Africa gives locals better access to digital mobile services such as games, music, and video while helping merchants generate additional revenue from the region,” said Gerri Kodres, Chief Business Officer at Fortumo.
Carrier billing solves this problem by allowing any mobile owner to make payments conveniently through their carrier and either deduct payments from their airtime balance or charge them to their monthly phone bill. Additional information on Africa’s digital ecosystem can be found from Fortumo’s recent market report.
In the Middle Eastern and African region, carrier billing through Fortumo is now available to more than 600 million people in 24 countries. Globally, over 3.5 billion people in 97 countries can make payments using their mobile phone with merchants who have integrated Fortumo.
Fortumo services app stores including Google Play, digital media providers including Spotify, Sony, HOOQ, Gaana and gaming companies like EA Mobile, Gameloft and Kinguin with carrier billing, local market insights and facilitates relationships with mobile operators.
In recent news from the region, Fortumo has announced partnerships with the live streaming platform Fission and daily deals service mydala for carrier billing.
Fortumo is an international mobile payment provider. The company offers various mobile payment solutions for web services and mobile applications.
