As mobile apps across all major platforms continue to flourish, a missing link has been a comprehensive mobile billing solution that works across all of them. Bango today released a solution to hopefully fill that void with its new in-app billing solution that works seamlessly across Nokia/Symbian, Android, BlackBerry, Windows Mobile and iPhone.
The new solution is completely open, giving developers complete control over the experience from how they charge consumers to pricing and currency, allowing them to sell content, virtual goods and add-ons from within their app, opening up a wide range of commercial opportunities no matter the platform they’re using.
App developers can collect one-time payments or start ongoing subscriptions within their app using operator billing, credit cards or even PayPal. The goal is to provide consumers a simple and consistent application payment experience on operator networks as well as over Wi-Fi. The new solution is aimed at developers who would rather have greater control over in-app billing and purchases, rather than relying on app stores to provide the functionality.
A recent study by Bango itself found that 45% of developers plan to monetize their apps directly, outside of app stores, making the case even stronger for an independent third-party solution. Though Apple and Google will undoubtedly launch their own in-app billing solutions that are tightly integrated with their corresponding app stores, as more and more platform become popular for development, a third-party solution that works across all of them will become more attractive.
