Fortumo joins One Platform Foundation to bring mobile operator billing to OpenIAB

BARCELONA, Spain, Feb. 24, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- One Platform Foundation is today announcing that the mobile payments company Fortumo has joined its Open In-App Billing (OpenIAB) initiative to enable developers to use mobile operator billing in 80 countries for in-app purchasing in any Android app store.

The OpenIAB initiative aims to create a unified billing solution for over thirty Android marketplaces. Developers are able to wrap their app using the OpenIAB library which then handles billing logic corresponding to each store's payment solution.

"Over 3 billion people want to buy digital goods with mobile payments. Adding Fortumo's mobile operator billing to OpenIAB makes it easier for Android developers to earn money from emerging markets," said Gerri Kodres, SVP of Business Development and Carrier Relations at Fortumo.

"Very few Android developers currently make the effort to publish and monetize their apps outside of Google Play. The simple reason is that it takes time and they do not want to integrate payments for each store separately. Fortumo is a welcome partner in the OpenIAB project as their payment SDK already works in most marketplaces. With more partners joining, we can create a critical mass for OpenIAB, change developer behaviour and ultimately make their business more profitable," commented Oleg Orlov, co-ordinator at the One Platform Foundation.

There are more than 30 alternative Android app stores operating globally. In those app stores, the likelihood of an app getting featured is 20 times higher than on Google Play. Approximately 25% of all Android apps are downloaded outside of Google Play. Revenues from third party app stores can make up as much as 25-40% of the total revenue for an app. An overview of alternative such stores can be found at the One Platform Foundation homepage.

OpenIAB currently supports billing for Google Play, Amazon App Store, Samsung Apps, T-Store and Yandex Store. Fortumo's mobile operator billing will become available in any participating app store that has implemented OpenIAB billing. Each developer will have the option to dynamically select in which countries and marketplaces they want to use mobile operator billing.

Fortumo's addition to OpenIAB also adds Barnes & Noble's NOOK app store to the list of marketplaces where developers using OpenIAB can make money. Fortumo is the official in-app purchasing provider for NOOK Apps.

Fortumo mobile payments in 80 countries will become available through OpenIAB's billing library by the end of March 2014. To start using mobile operator billing right now, any Android developer can sign up for Fortumo in-app purchasing at: http://fortumo.com/android.

About One Platform Foundation

The One Platform Foundation is a global, open-source initiative created by Android app developers and Android app stores that share a vision of making life easier for Android developers. One Platform Foundation contributes time to create tools and standards that make supporting multiple app stores simpler. Partners of the One Platform Foundation include Opera Store, SlideME, Yandex.Store, CodeNgo, Appland and Mobango. For additional information, visit http://www.onepf.org.

About Fortumo

Fortumo allows any merchant to set up payment processing for web and mobile services, games or apps. Users with a mobile phone are then able to make one-click payments using Fortumo without the need for a credit card - payments are charged to their mobile operator bill instead. Fortumo payments are cross-platform and work in PC applications, web services and HTML5, Android, Windows Phone and Windows 8 apps. Fortumo supports payments in 80 countries through 300 mobile operators, including a number of exclusive direct carrier billing partnerships. Founded in 2007, Fortumo has offices in Estonia, San Francisco, Beijing and Delhi and is backed by Intel Capital and Greycroft Partners. For more information on Fortumo, visit http://fortumo.com.

SOURCE Fortumo Mobile Payments