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Bango seals carrier billing deal with Chilean operator
AIM-listed mobile commerce company Bango has inked a deal that will allow subscribers of Chile's largest mobile phone network to pay using their phone bill for content and services sold in Google Play.
Covering the likes of Minecraft, Tinder and Google Play Music, both pre and post-paid subscribers of Chile's Entel will be able to utilise the click-to-buy facility using carrier billing, placing the charge on their phone bill, for instant access to apps, games, music and video.
Bango noted that Latin America, the world's second-fastest growing mobile, had a "significantly low" financial inclusion in the digital ecosystem, with over 70% of Latin Americans being unbanked, according to Americas Market Intelligence.
The firm believes that carrier billing would lead to 1,000% higher payment conversion rates compared to credit card transactions.
To ensure continued carrier billing sales growth, Entel, the largest carrier in Chile, will be given access to Bango's comparative intelligence technology to evaluate performance and boost both users and payment conversions.
Ray Anderson, Bango's chief executive, said, "Driven by increasing smartphone adoption and internet access people are spending more time and money on their phones, driving unprecedented growth in digital commerce. Increasing financial inclusion across the globe is a core focus for Bango."
"This is the first Direct Carrier Billing launch for Google Play within South America. It follows the first Direct Carrier Billing launch for Google Play across Latin America with AT&T Mexico in 2015, also through the Bango Platform," added Anderson.
As of 0840 BST, 88 Energy shares had ticked up 0.17% to 151.25p.