Apigee acquires global API alliance’s carrier billing technology

API management startup Apigee has just announced it’s acquired some interesting mobile payment processing and other technologies from the Wholesale Applications Community (WAC).

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This deal includes a specific API for carrier billing for in-app purchases, and it plays nicely with carriers all around the globe.

WAC’s technology offering is its mobile payment API, which lets users pay for digital and/or virtual goods using carrier billing. It’s been used on mobile networks from AT&T to Deutsche Telekom to Telefónica. The service has run on Apigee since its launch earlier this year, so it makes sense for Apigee to buy the technology outright.

“WAC successfully launched API technology that has the potential to dramatically accelerate the pace of mobile app innovation across heterogeneous platforms and mobile operators,” said Apigee CEO Chet Kapoor in a release.

“The WAC acquisition is part of our strategy to expand our offerings to include complete, industry-specific solutions. … We are thrilled to have the opportunity to provide a global service that builds on and delivers the vision of WAC to the telecommunications industry.”

We read on the WAC website:

Operator billing is the easiest way to charge users for digital content. There is no need for the user to enter a credit card number or password, the user only has to confirm the purchase and it will be put on their phone bill. It even works if the user is buying something on a PC or tablet in which case we send the user a one-time PIN via SMS. This ease-of-use results in higher conversion rates and therefore more revenues.

The other part of the acquisition is WAC’s web runtime, a mobile app platform that lets developers build applications that can run on any device and any carrier. It’s just an orgy of interoperability.

WAC is an open global alliance of leading communications companies including network operators and device and network equipment manufacturers. The organization itself is a nonprofit and is funded by membership fees. Its stated goal is to help developers turn a better profit by developing a cross-carrier API platform.

Top image courtesy of igor1308, Shutterstock

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