ArpuPlus, a leading provider of value added services (VAS) and monetisation solutions across the Middle East and an OTVentures company, today announced that its payment platform T-PayTM has partnered with 19 mobile operators from 12 countries around the region to offer over 200 million mobile subscribers, or more than half of the total population of the Arab region, the ability to charge their online and digital purchases directly to their phone bills through Direct Operators Billing (DOB).
T-PayTM’s multiple mobile operators partnerships ensure that subscribers around the region can order and buy any goods, services and content online. Digital shopping transactions will become as easy as 1-2-3, as consumers will only have to enter their mobile phone number in order to complete their digital purchase through a single, click-to-buy action, without the need of a credit card or a bank account nor to register their personal details. Their transaction will then be instantly added to their monthly mobile telephone bill by their mobile carrier, if they have a post-paid number, or will be deducted from their existing account for those who have a pre-paid number. Payment transactions can be made from any desktop or mobile device.
T-PayTM which was designed, built and is powered by LINK Development, another OTVentures firm and a sister company of ArpuPlus, now has the biggest footprint in the region for direct operators billing (DOB).
Fadi Antaki, CEO of OTVentures, a pioneering digital and technology solutions provider for both online and mobile platforms, said: “Mobile payments and Direct Operator Billing are still in their nascent stage in the region but are expected to change the way people buy virtual and physical goods in the same way online connectivity changed our business and social behavior over the past two decades. It is part of the inevitable transformation to Smart Cities and Smart Societies. Digital is elevating our lifestyle into an entirely new level and OTVentures and its operating companies are a key driver of this paradigm shift in the region and are leading the change.”
T-PayTM is today available in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain, Kuwait, Algeria, Jordan, Palestine and Qatar in addition to Lebanon with Sudan and Iraq going live in the next phase. Such wide coverage network makes T-PayTM the only direct billing platform offering high reach of subscribers to any online business with streamlined collection and settlement services for consumer purchases across multiple carriers and countries in the region. Enjoying 100 percent carrier coverage in Saudi Arabia and Egypt, all mobile subscribers in these two highly populated countries can now make use of T-PayTM’s new “charge-to-mobile-bill” service launched with many online businesses in the region.
Adham El-Gazzar, Managing Director ArpuPlus, said: “In light of the global and local changes affecting the telecommunications sector, innovation becomes essential and ArpuPlus is determined to lead with major revamp recently made in the portfolio of products and services strategically built or acquired during 2014 . Delivering new services and products will help our operator partners grow and clients keep up with the new trends. T-PayTM is one of the main drivers that cater regionally to these global changes and help to fill clients reach new levels of efficiency.”
T-PayTM is a unique carrier-neutral mobile payment ecosystem that connects consumers, merchants and mobile carriers for direct mobile billing. It provides several unique advantages over other alternative payment solutions for each of the parties involved in the ‘buy-sell-pay’cycle.
Adham El-Gazzar, Managing Director ArpuPlus, added: ” T-PayTM offers to merchants and consumers an expanding network through its strategic partnerships with operators. Partnering closely with carriers reinforces T-PayTM commitment to help merchants reach consumers in new cross-border markets with ease and convenience.”
These agreements with key mobile operators around the region are expected to boost the digital content market as well as online purchases. Not only that, but mobile payment through DOB is predicted to move quickly from the current world of digital content, gaming and online shopping into the physical world of brick-and-mortar businesses and government fees, such as parking, fines and tickets.
Sahar Salama, T-PayTM General Manager, said: “With over 13 offices across the region, T-PayTM is uniquely positioned as a truly local payment partner to all regional and international online businesses in different sectors. With optimised sales conversions from online shopping to realised sales and completion rates through simple user experience, our partners’ customers pay with simplicity. T-PayTM becomes the one-stop-shop integration for their DOB payments and solves the multi-party challenge for businesses locally on the ground. We have direct connections with all the carriers which ensure better economies of scale, service transparency and reliability for our partners. The platform enables both small and large businesses including startups which can monetise through multiple models and tools offered by the T-PayTM platform. It enhances payment guarantee, reduces customer-care handling costs for businesses, and ensures accurate reconciliation, payment and settlement. Most importantly, T-PayTM is capable to deliver advanced solution and platform capabilities which answer to market needs and fills the gap between operators legacy systems functionality and the dynamics of online technologies and solutions”
According to Business Insider, Direct Operator Billing, also known as Direct Carrier Billing (DCB), is expected to generate four billion dollars in mobile transactions globally for 2014. That’s 13% of the global market for mobile digital content. This is expected to triple to reach over US$12 billion in global revenue for mobile operators in 2022.
T-PayTM is a well-established service provider and partner. Offering a unique solution, the platform understands the nuances and unique challenges of partners in specific industries in the specific country of operations. T-PayTM also manages the work processes and offers partners additional business and technical services that can help further increase sales including localisation and translation, creativity and design, consultancy and customer care. With local know-how and relations in the region, the platform optimises the best performing payment flows for the market and introduces innovative solutions with the multiple carriers in the T-PayTM network.