Carrier Billing Continues to Grow

Carrier billing is experiencing something of a growth spurt.

End user spend is forecast to increase by 36% over the next two years, growing to $73.8 billion in 2024, from $54.4 billion in 2021.

That’s according to a report by industry analysts Juniper Research, ‘Carrier billing – leveraging the 5G opportunity’.

The growth is likely to be driven by 5G-based mobile gaming, video subscriptions and activities within number of key industries.

About carrier billing

Carrier billing enables customers to pay for purchases by adding them to their phone bills, rather than using a payment card or bank transfer. It works by connecting merchants and mobile operators and provides exposure to potential billions of mobile users worldwide, instantly.

Benefits of carrier billing

Increased conversions – with near-universal reach and an incredibly simple transaction process, carrier billing converts browsers into customers.

Instant transactions – mobile payment lets customers buy instantly, with no debit or credit card involvement, and sometimes in a single click.

Limitless applications – the perfect way for collecting payment for ticketing, subscriptions, top-ups, digital products and more.

Safe and secure – PIN authentication make mobile payment a safe and direct way to conduct transactions.

Key industries

According to Juniper Research, there are seven key market segments for carrier billing:

Gaming – While the online and mobile gaming market has seen significant growth in recent years, it is the mobile share of gaming revenue that is estimated to grow further over the next two years. The COVID-19 pandemic fuelled a sharp rise in use of gaming platforms on mobile phones and this trend is set to continue.

Music – The increase in time spent at home as a result of nationwide lockdowns and access to home Wi-Fi fuelled an increase of around 12.4% in the number of households with a digital music subscription. Streaming platforms monetise their customer bases using methods such as carrier billing.

Video – Digital video streaming services enjoyed growth during the pandemic as people sought home-based entertainment. Netflix were said to have added almost 44 million new subscribers in the first half of 2020 alone, compared with around 28 million over the whole of 2019.

Lifestyle Content and ePublishing – Making up a small proportion of carrier billing spend, these sectors include includes health and wellness content, dating apps and sport as well as eBooks, eMagazines and eNewspapers.

Gambling – Carrier billing is widely used by gambling companies as an onboarding mechanism and presents a secure way to gamble through a mobile handset. Age verification and creditworthiness can be built into carrier billing systems for gambling relatively easily.

Ticketing – The growth of contactless ticketing means that consumers are now accustomed to using their mobile as a payment tool for ticket purchase.

Physical Goods – In addition to enabling purchases of digital goods, carrier billing also allows payments to be made for physical goods, although this has seen uptake in some markets more than others.

It is the shifts in these key industries that are set to drive continued growth in carrier billing spend.

Through its ‘Pay’ product, MessageCloud unlocks new mobile revenue streams by allowing businesses to charge customers directly through their phone bill.

About MessageCloud

MessageCloud is a multi-award winning mobile messaging technology provider. Its cloud-based SMS and messaging products enable companies to set up and manage one-way and two-way communications effortlessly. Plus, it offers products to analyse phone numbers, verify users and accept payments by mobile.

With its range of products, ‘Send’, ‘Numbers’, ‘Verify’, ‘Analyse’ and ‘Pay’, MessageCloud delivers tools that maximise mobile marketing; from virtual numbers to payment systems for carrier billing. And with more than a decade of delivering messages for diverse markets around the globe, it is a service on which you can rely.