msmobiles.com - Cellular News - Bango enables mobile phone users to pay for content using PayPal

Bango enables mobile phone users to pay for content using PayPal
September 12, 2005;
Why Handango, PocketGear.com and others still don't get it: users want to be able to pay by PayPal, without credit cards! Fortuantely Bango gets it...

Bango, the mobile content enabler, has announced today that it now provides mobile phone users with the ability to pay for mobile content using their PayPal accounts.

Bango has entered into an agreement with PayPal, to enable content owners to deliver low cost, direct-to-consumer mobile content, paid for using a PayPal account and one-click purchasing from Bango.

With this agreement, mobile phone users can approve purchases of content such as ringtones, games, wallpapers and videos using pre-approved PayPal payments. Existing PayPal users activate their accounts to pay for mobile content with a one-time visit to www.bango.net on a personal computer. They register their phone with Bango and make purchases through Bango, with funds deducted from their PayPal accounts.

“Bango is continuously enabling more users worldwide to access and pay for mobile content and services,” said Anil Malhotra, VP of Alliances at Bango. “The agreement with PayPal opens-up mobile content to tens of millions of new users, in many new markets for mobile content.”

Content providers who sign up for the Bango Service can market, sell and deliver their products and services directly to users on all mobile networks. Bango enables a fast-track to market for content providers, avoiding the need for individual contracts on an operator-by-operator basis. In addition, Bango implements and manages content standards and acceptable usage policies from PayPal and the operators.

“Providing consumers with different billing options will help spur the growth of mobile entertainment services (gaming, ringtones, wallpapers, etc.); especially in regions like North America, where most consumers are on networks that are still closed to off-portal content and billing,” said Tuong Nguyen, Research Analyst on Mobile and Wireless at Gartner.

Bango gives content providers the services to ensure easy access to their branded content, collection of micro-payments, detailed tracking of user spending patterns and the tools for viral marketing.

To ensure a streamlined user experience, the Bango system automatically presents the best payment option depending upon the user’s network, territory and previous payment history. Payment options include on the phone bill (using the operator’s own billing system or Premium SMS), PayPal, credit/debit card, IVR or retail PIN.

For further information, go to www.bango.com.

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