Mobile telecommunications firm Zain Group is set to launch Direct Operator Billing service in South Sudan and Sudan in Africa and in Kuwait, Bahrain, Jordan and Saudi Arabia and Iraq.
The group has partnered with mobile solutions provider, SLA Mobile, to provide customers with Direct Operator Billing capabilities to enable Zain’s customers to pay for digital goods from a third-party content or service provider by charging the transaction to their mobile phone monthly bill or using their pre-paid credit.
The service will provide customers the ability to easily and safely purchase apps from leading global app stores across the various operating platforms such as Android, Windows Phone and BlackBerry and charge their bills or their credit balance in case of prepaid, all without a requirement for a credit card. Customers can easily purchase digital content and services provided by Zain’s local and regional partners with merchants and app developers now being able to reach a wider audience with their products and services encouraging and driving the innovation and consumption of such content.
According to Scott Gegenheimer, Zain Group CEO, “The exciting world of mobile digital services is driving the mobile industry forward at the moment, with a whole new world of content and applications being developed and introduced all the time. Zain is already one of the leading technology innovators with respect to our state-of-the-art mobile broadband networks, and this investment in our networks goes hand-in-hand with our ability to offer services that enhance customer’s digital purchasing experiences.”
With mobile content and apps revenue in emerging markets such as the Middle East and Africa predicted to skyrocket, giving customers an easy solution to purchase and consume digital services on their mobile devices is a prudent step taken by Zain at this time.
Gegenheimer believes that by being one of the first telecom providers in the Middle East to launch a Direct Operator Billing service, Zain reinforces its dedication to providing customers with the best purchasing experience and are confident it will enable them to use mobile payments in a safe and easy manner.
Nic Stirk, CEO of SLA Mobile was also happy about the deal.
Stirk said: “The Direct Operator Billing solution offers customers a highly convenient mobile payment option while allowing mobile operators to rapidly monetize their customers’ digital consumption. Mobile operators have many assets that can be monetized and Direct Operator Billing is the stepping stone to greater things in terms of improving competitiveness and increasing customer loyalty and retention.”