Bango, the mobile payments company, announces that it has launched operator-billed payments for Google Play users with 9mobile in Nigeria. Through the 9mobile 9pay wallet, customers in Nigeria can pay for the wealth of media, games, apps and digital content in Google Play, with one-click, without the need to own a credit card or bank account.
Nigeria is one of the most mobile-centric countries in the world. The scale is enormous, with around 150 million subscribers, a penetration rate of over 80% (GSMA Intelligence, 2017), and more mobile internet users than any other African country (Business Insider, 2016). 76% of all online traffic in Nigeria is from mobile devices (Africa Business Communities, 2016). Smartphone adoption is growing, particularly Android which accounted for over 60% of the mobile Operating System (OS) market share in Nigeria in 2016 (StatCounter). With the Google Play store pre-installed on all Android devices, millions of Nigerian consumers are now able to participate in the m-commerce experience.
Nigeria is tailor-made for mobile money solutions due to the combination of a highly unbanked, highly mobile-first population. Wallets are typically distributed by mobile operators in Africa and offer consumers a means for making important financial transactions, including sending and receiving money, paying utility bills, school fees, wages, topping up air-time and much more. For many this is their only option, as a result wallets are a highly adopted payment mechanism.
Adia Sowho, director of Digital Business at 9mobile commented: “We are delighted to have added the ability to place the charge for content and services from Google Play to the 9pay wallet in Nigeria, in partnership with Bango. This launch is a significant addition to the value of 9pay wallet for our customers.”
“With high Android device penetration and a low banked population, Africa has become a prime market for transformative mobile payment solutions. Direct Carrier Billing and stored value systems such as 9mobile 9pay wallet provide a safe, simple mechanism for increasing access for millions to digital content and services”, Ray Anderson, Bango CEO commented.
“Enabling 9mobile to launch their 9pay wallet as a payment option in Google Play is an important milestone for Bango, further increasing our footprint in Africa and enabling millions more consumers to fully participate in the digital revolution.”