carrier billing

Rising concerns with accidental in-app purchases

16 February 2014

I can now say that I have  become a member of society that has been exposed to accidental in-app purchases through my mobile. Whilst at SLA , we have been speaking about our mobile payment solution, Direct Operator Billing and how it can reduce risk in such a situation by setting credit limits, I had never experienced it myself.

Now I can resonate with those numerous media stories as parents tell of the horror of their kids racking up gigantic phone bills from in-app purchases.  With the popular rise (and now fall) of the mobile game “Flappy Birds”, I was pestered by my nephew to let him play the addictive game on my mobile.  After giving in and enjoying half an hour of silence he proceeded to download other free games with my permission, of course.

I watched carefully as he downloaded the games and tried each one out.  After he found one he liked, he continued to play as he rapidly climbed the levels of the game.  As he moved from level to level, a message appeared to confirm purchase and he quickly clicked yes.  What began as a free download had quickly cost me a few pounds in order to unlock access to a new character.

Okay so my purchase was only for £6.99 but it wasn’t the initial cost that worried me, it was the fact that if I hadn’t of witnessed it happening myself, I dread to think of the potential bill that I may have been faced with.

While on this occasion I managed to escape a disaster, it has raised my awareness of just how easy it is to fall into the trap of in-app purchases.  With the rise of mobile payments, it will soon become unavoidable to use your mobile as your payment source.  Security is almost certainly key in this situation and what is more secure than using a mobile payment solution that does not require the need of credit/debit card details. Direct Operator billing can provide a secure and seamless transaction experience to both post and pre paid users with the added benefit of providing credit limits.


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