Bango has reported positive key performance indicators, based on an analysis of the first million transactions the company has processed since the launch of Payforit in the UK mobile market earlier this year. 92% of transactions were completed successfully with an error rate of less than 1%, the company says. And with refund levels at below 0.01%, there was a significant reduction in the need for expensive customer care.
The Payforit scheme, developed by all five UK mobile network operators in collaboration with leading technical service providers, including Bango, provides a standardized and familiar web-like payment experience for consumers browsing and buying content and services from mobile phones.
Bangos analysis demonstrates that:
92% of transactions were successfully completed through the companys Payforit flow, and at levels exceeding previous types of transactions.
A 1% error rate incomplete transactions resulting from a payment processing failure, often leading to a retry.
7% of transactions failed because users had insufficient funds to complete their purchase.
The UK market has a comparatively high pre-paid user base, accounting for over 60% of all subscribers. The occurrence of insufficient subscriber funds is more noticeable where a high pre-paid base exists and consumers are unaware of the money they have remaining on their phones before making a purchase.
It is great to see such clear evidence that Payforit is performing so well, comments Steve Ricketts, Head of Third Party Services at Orange UK. Bangos numbers show that the scheme is delivering a happy end user experience and a successful payment scheme for content providers.
Mobile Data Association Chairman Mike Short adds:
This shows great progress for the industry and for our customers who have growing confidence in purchasing a wider choice of mobile web-based content. Payforit grew out of a need for consistent operational standards, light touch regulation and interoperability across all networks. As Bango`s results show, this is a very good start.
The benefits of the Payforit scheme go beyond maximizing content provider revenue to include widening the content choice available through easy payment and, through web services, offering a significant reduction in the need for expensive customer care, says Bango. The research shows that the biggest improvement is in very low refund levels being requested, and fewer than one in ten thousand customer refund payments in the UK compared to higher levels approaching 10% with Premium SMS.
As part of its research, Bango also calculated the average transaction speed, a key metric for improved customer experience. This is calculated as the time elapsed between the user clicking the Buy link, and seeing the confirmation web page. Across all five networks, the average is five seconds and in the best cases, a figure of two seconds is achieved.
In addition to improving the payment flow, the Payforit scheme enables content providers to legitimately and safely market to their consumers by allowing them to opt in to marketing campaigns. Bango gives content providers full control over the capture and management of customer marketing within the Payforit rules. By providing content providers with a real-time, updated list of opted in users, they are safe in the knowledge that all marketing activity adheres to the guidelines at all times. Typically, the opt-in page is presented when content is being purchased. With Bango, the company notes, content providers can offer this opt-in page at any point during the browsing process which means those who do not charge for content can still opt consumers in to their marketing messages.
Bango is delivering the benefits of the Payforit-style WAP model across the worlds leading mobile content markets, says Anil Malhotra, SVP Marketing at Bango and chair of the MMA mobile web committee. In the US, this approach to off-portal content is increasingly supported by operators, content providers and though the work of the MMA, to the benefit of consumers and content providers alike.