rahul1117kumar
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Back in May this year, Google had launched the carrier billing option for Idea Cellular subscribers. Google had then said it was planning to extend the option to other operators in India but did not share a time frame for the same. Months after the partnership with Idea, Google seems set to extend the feature to Airtel and Vodafone subscribers.
While Google’s Play Store offers a lot of free apps to download, things get little tricky with paid apps. Payments for digital content for Indian users have been difficult whereas the credit card penetration in the country is still low. The direct carrier billing allows users to make purchases on the Google Play Store and pay through integrated carrier billing instead of credit cards. The integrated carrier billing option works for both prepaid and postpaid subscribers. The purchases can be deducted from the existing prepaid balance or come added into the monthly bill in case of postpaid users.
Though Google hasn’t officially announced the tie up with Airtel and Vodafone for the carrier billing option, a slew of tweets posted by attendees at Google’s PlayTime event strongly hint that the option will soon see light of the day. Himanshu Gupta, who put up a few tweets about Google’s plans from the event, said, “the Direct Carrier Billing or DCB feature will especially benefit gaming apps”, as some of these apps come with in-app purchases. We have reached out to Google for an official confirmation regarding the service.
While announcing the tie up with with Idea Cellular, Google on its blog had explained that with an integrated billing system, each time a user needs to make a purchase, they can simply choose ‘bill my Idea Cellular Account’ on the prompt in the store. If more operators are added to the service, the options will then be prompted accordingly.
With the introduction of new methods of payments such as Apple or Samsung Pay or those which make use of third-party services, security of user information often becomes a concern. Google assures that all the account information is kept safe therefore making this new way of integrated billing a secure way to buy digital content with the smartphone.
In order to activate Google Play Store payments through your mobile provider account, Idea users need to use the cellular data to register the mobile number. After registering, go to Google Play > choose the menu option on the left > go to Account > add payment methods > Pay using (service provider). You will then be sent a verification code and once you apply the go, your new payments method will be activated.
Hassle-free purchases also come at a cost as users will be charged a small convenience fee. In cases where a user is not satisfied with the app within two hours of purchase, the amount will be refunded along with the convenience fee.
Google to extend carrier billing for Play Store to Airtel, Vodafone subscribers
While Google’s Play Store offers a lot of free apps to download, things get little tricky with paid apps. Payments for digital content for Indian users have been difficult whereas the credit card penetration in the country is still low. The direct carrier billing allows users to make purchases on the Google Play Store and pay through integrated carrier billing instead of credit cards. The integrated carrier billing option works for both prepaid and postpaid subscribers. The purchases can be deducted from the existing prepaid balance or come added into the monthly bill in case of postpaid users.
Though Google hasn’t officially announced the tie up with Airtel and Vodafone for the carrier billing option, a slew of tweets posted by attendees at Google’s PlayTime event strongly hint that the option will soon see light of the day. Himanshu Gupta, who put up a few tweets about Google’s plans from the event, said, “the Direct Carrier Billing or DCB feature will especially benefit gaming apps”, as some of these apps come with in-app purchases. We have reached out to Google for an official confirmation regarding the service.
While announcing the tie up with with Idea Cellular, Google on its blog had explained that with an integrated billing system, each time a user needs to make a purchase, they can simply choose ‘bill my Idea Cellular Account’ on the prompt in the store. If more operators are added to the service, the options will then be prompted accordingly.
With the introduction of new methods of payments such as Apple or Samsung Pay or those which make use of third-party services, security of user information often becomes a concern. Google assures that all the account information is kept safe therefore making this new way of integrated billing a secure way to buy digital content with the smartphone.
In order to activate Google Play Store payments through your mobile provider account, Idea users need to use the cellular data to register the mobile number. After registering, go to Google Play > choose the menu option on the left > go to Account > add payment methods > Pay using (service provider). You will then be sent a verification code and once you apply the go, your new payments method will be activated.
Hassle-free purchases also come at a cost as users will be charged a small convenience fee. In cases where a user is not satisfied with the app within two hours of purchase, the amount will be refunded along with the convenience fee.
Google to extend carrier billing for Play Store to Airtel, Vodafone subscribers
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