Zong expands its mobile payments to game consoles and tablets

Mobile payments company Zong said today that it is expanding its mobile billing service to game consoles and tablets.

Zong lets you make payments online and bill them to your mobile phone, making online payments easy, especially for people who don’t have credit cards.

People use Zong and services like it to pay for virtual goods in social games or mobile apps. The Menlo Park, Calif.-based company said today it is expanding its reach to a bunch of other platforms, including video game consoles, interactive TV, Adobe’s Flash, the mobile web, Android 3.0 tablets, and games that use the Unity 3D game engine.

With Zong, you can purchase something online from those various devices by clicking the “buy with mobile” option. You enter your phone number, and the transaction is verified via text message. The item is then charged on your monthly mobile bill or a prepaid mobile account.

Services like Zong remove friction from the system. That’s important because users often drop out of online transactions if they don’t have a credit card or some other way to pay for something. Paying with a mobile phone number is often easier too, since users have the number memorized.

But U.S. carriers have been slow to lower fees for such transactions compared to other countries. Carriers have often taken 50 percent of the value of a transaction.

But carriers are getting around to lowering the charges now, realizing that it’s good for business. Rivals include BilltoMobile and Boku.

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