Bango goes live with Facebook in France

Posted on November 22, 2012 by

Bango goes live with Facebook in FranceBango announces that their integration with Facebook is now live in France, on the Orange network. Bango provides Facebook mobile web operator billing in Germany, the UK, USA, and now France, connecting Orange’s 26 million subscribers to a frictionless, one-click payment experience on their mobile phone.

Bango continues to roll out the service globally, with new operators being ‘switched on’ regularly. French coverage will be further improved by connections to Bouygues and SFR before the end of 2012. Continue reading →

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Bango and Facebook’s Promoted Posts

Posted on November 15, 2012 by

Bango is the mobile payment provider behind Facebook’s latest innovation: Promoted Posts. The service allows Facebook users to pay to promote their personal status updates, pushing them to the top of other users’ newsfeeds. Promoted Posts is beginning its global rollout, and the payment process is powered by Bango for users on the mobile web.

The service, originally named ‘Highlight’ was first trialed in New Zealand in May 2012, and was then expanded to other countries around the region. Now renamed as Promoted Posts Continue reading →

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Does it make sense for carriers to attempt another mobile billing standard?

Posted on October 18, 2012 by

Last week, Telefonica Digital announced a tie-up with European operator Telenor, to standardize a way of charging third party services to customers’ phone bills. The idea is that a third party content provider could integrate with Telefonica’s BlueVia charge to bill technology, and they will then be able to charge Telenor’s customer base as well. Telenor reaches into the coldest corners of Northern Europe, as well as more temperate parts of Asia including Malaysia.

Standardization of APIs makes sense for content providers. The advantage of using a single API is well understood by Bango’s partners, who depend on us to enable almost one billion customers to pay from connected mobile devices worldwide. From a Bango point of view, Continue reading →

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Mobile wallets and Bango

Posted on October 16, 2012 by

Mobile wallets and BangoIn the last few years, the idea that we will soon abandon our wallet in favor of our mobile phones has moved from being an interesting possibility, to a future-gazing cliché. Many have begun to fear that the flying car will arrive sooner than the mobile wallet. But the promise of frictionless retail payment using our phones, and the ability to manage our varied payment methods from a single, virtual place, remains intriguing.

A mobile wallet is a service allowing users to store key online shopping data (addresses, logins and so on, not just credit card details) in a central, digital ‘wallet’. A simple and single PIN number will unlock varied payment methods. The last year or so has seen great momentum in the mobile wallet space, and it’s worth revisiting this nascent technology. Continue reading →

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Operator billing reaches inflection point as O2 increase payout rates

Posted on October 10, 2012 by

Today Telefonica O2 slipped out a deceptively low-key announcement: They’re increasing payout rates to merchants, in order to help drive adoption of operator billing. The announcement is here.

We at Bango think this could be a hugely influential move. Bango CEO Ray Anderson, speaking from CTIA’s MobileCON event in San Diego, said:

Telefonica O2 often drives business model innovation, and it’s great to see their latest move in mobile commerce: significantly increasing payout rates for merchants. Operator billing has proven its worth, and we think it could now be reaching a “magical, musical” inflection point. Continue reading →

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Which app stores keep their developers happy?

Posted on October 1, 2012 by

There are many measures of the health of an app store, but perhaps the most vital measure is how happy are the developers? A thriving developer ecosystem is a prerequisite for app store success; after all it’s the innovation and commitment of developers that provides the content on which app stores will be judged. At a more basic level, if developers can’t monetize their efforts through a given app store, they won’t stick around for too long.

Bango recently took the temperature of the global developer community, with a survey which garnered more than 80 responses. The survey questions focused on app submission and payment processes, shedding light on developer mindshare. In my debut blog post I thought I’d share some of what we learned, especially in regard to payment. Continue reading →

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Frictionless payments and PIN codes: Don’t do it!

Posted on September 28, 2012 by

One of the biggest challenges for an app store or mobile merchant is deciding whether to implement the best possible frictionless payment experience and drive the highest conversion rates, or introduce PIN codes before payment confirmation. Pin codes could increase security and prevent customer complaints or refunds due to unauthorized purchases. Bango powers a growing number of major app stores and mobile payments around the world giving us unique insights into user behaviour and the best responses to this challenge.

Contrary to initial instinct, in nearly all cases it is better to avoid introducing a PIN code system into the payment flow, but that does not mean security must be compromised. Here’s why… Continue reading →

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