Meetic Adds Carrier Billing Option In France With Gemalto Partnership

European dating giant Meetic is now using carrier billing operator Gemalto to let singles without a credit or debit card pay for its online dating services.

Meetic is now using Gemalto’s Netsize solution, which means the 20m mobile subscribers of France’s leading telecom provider Numericable-SFR can pay for Meetic’s dating services via their phone bill.

The alternative payment method will be offered to Meetic customers on the payment page alongside the existing credit and debit card options.

After users click the carrier billing option, they are automatically identified by their mobile phone, without having to input their number manually.

Speaking about the decision to add carrier billing as a payment option in France, Meetic’s payment manager Aude Kuznik said: “Direct carrier billing is a flexible and innovative way to enhance mobile conversion with a frictionless payment user experience.

“We’ve chosen Gemalto for their established relationships with mobile operators, global presence and a proven track record.”

Gemalto’s Netsize platform also provides analytics such as payment count & billing rate, which can all be accessed through a cloud-based platform with a web interface where customers can extract reports and integrate Netsize with their own reporting tools.

The payment company said the partnership will also let Meetic extend the carrier billing relationship to other mobile operators and into other European markets.

Benoit Bole, the Senior Vice President at Netsize said: “This contract with Meetic Group reflects our commitment to working as a payment services provider for digital enterprises in diverse vertical markets such as social communities, transport, gaming, e-publications and music.

“With direct carrier billing, companies across all these sectors can achieve an immediate step change in customer service and market reach, improving sales revenues and profitability.”

Carrier billing is an attractive payment method in many markets, especially emerging ones, because there are many people who do not own credit cards and are therefore unable to buy certain digital content.

In 2015, in some of Europe’s biggest markets, almost 50% of consumers are unable to pay by credit or debit card.

For example, in Germany there are approximately 81m people and 97m mobile phones, but only 35.6% own a credit card.

Likewise in Italy, only 30.5% of its 60m population have a credit card, but there are over 92m mobile phones.

There are also consumers who would simply prefer to buy digital content by utilising an existing billing relationship like their phone contract.

And with regards to France, according to a DIMOCO report released last September, there are 71.6m mobile subscribers in the country and a mobile penetration rate of 61.4% – which has increased by 40% over the past few years.

To find out more about carrier billing in Europe, download our special industry report produced in collaboration with DIMOCO below:

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You can also learn about Gemalto and Netsize here.