Facebook teams up with Bango to integrate operator billing

SOCIAL NETWORK Facebook has begun accepting mobile payments for its web services via carrier billing in the US, UK and Germany.

In a bid to make more money from its mobile business, Facebook has teamed up with web payments and analytics company Bango that will be powering the service.

"[The partnership] enables Facebook's mobile web users to easily purchase digital content without the use of premium SMS messages or the limitations of credit cards," Bango said in a statement released today.

"Instead, users enjoy frictionless operator billing, paying on their phone, without the need to register personal details."

Facebook declined to comment on the partnership when asked.

Bango is used by app stores, publishers and content providers to collect payment from mobile users for online content and services.

"[Our service] creates a platform effect for its partners, leading to more identified mobile users and maximising the number of single-click payments [and] the result is significantly higher rates of collection," Bango's statement read. "This is the experience that Facebook is now using for its smartphone payments service on the mobile web."

The deal, which seeks to create a better experience for the social network on smartphones, could prove to be a useful investment for Facebook as it expands its commercial activities and tries to get mobile users accustomed to using their handsets for transactions. µ