Zong Brings Direct Mobile Payments to the Philippines

MENLO PARK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Zong, the leading global mobile payments platform, today announced that its direct carrier billing is now available in the Philippines. Zong has signed new deals with Philippines carriers Smart (with 46.60 million users) and Globe (with 23.25 million users). With these new additions, Zong now has a global potential reach of almost 3 billion mobile consumers through its network of 220 carriers. Zong has always focused on building its network of direct billing relationships with carriers globally in order to provide the most comprehensive coverage possible, and by entering the Philippines market, it is providing the country’s active social networking users with the simplest mobile payment solution for purchasing digital goods.

“We are thrilled to have entered this new market”

Zong provides consumers the most convenient and frictionless way to purchase virtual and digital goods in environments such as Zynga and Playfish games on Facebook and hundreds of other digital merchant websites and mobile applications. Consumers quickly and easily pay for goods just by verifying their mobile phone numbers; there is no need to sign up for a service, log in, or enter any other personal data. Zong, through its direct relationships with carriers, automatically adds the charge to the user’s mobile carrier bill or deducts the amount from their prepaid credits.

The Philippines has been referred to as the ‘social networking capital of the world’ (Universal McCann “Power to the People: Wave 3”) because of its high percentage of people who actively use social networking. Since most of its mobile users use pre-paid minutes, they can now use Zong to easily reallocate these pre-paid credits to purchase virtual and digital goods online.

“We are thrilled to have entered this new market,” said David Marcus, CEO and founder, Zong. “Tens of millions of customers around the world use Zong to purchase goods and we are proud to extend our service to the Philippines, a market that is very technology-forward and can take full advantage of the ease that Zong creates for the purchase process for online and mobile platforms.”

Zong leads the global mobile payments market by establishing more direct carrier relationships than any other platform. It connects directly with some of the world’s largest mobile operator groups including AT&T, T-Mobile, Vodafone, Orange, O2 and many more worldwide. Over 60% of Zong’s payment volume is processed through these direct carrier integrations. Zong is a major player within the mobile payments market which is expected to reach over $200 billion by 2012 (Juniper Research, Mobile Payments for Digital & Physical Goods: Players, Markets & Opportunities, 2010-2014). Zong provides mobile payments for Facebook Credits and many other leading social gaming and networking platforms.

About Zong

Zong is the leading mobile payments platform for sellers of digital goods and services. Its frictionless payment experience converts shoppers into buyers at rates up to 10 times greater than traditional payment methods. Zong leverages direct connections with mobile network operators around the world to provide a secure payment solution with unrivaled connectivity and service quality. Zong is the mobile payment provider for Facebook Credits and also works with hundreds of leading destination websites and mobile applications including Gaia Online, IMVU and Playdom. Reaching almost 3 billion mobile users, Zong provides localized payment capabilities in close to 50 countries in 21 languages. Zong is the only mobile payments platform that combines the high conversion rates of carrier billing with the low costs and flexibility of payment card networks. Zong is based in Menlo Park with offices in Paris and Geneva, and is backed by Matrix Partners, Advent Venture Partners and Newbury Ventures. For more information, please visit www.zong.com.