Bemobi Offers New Alternative to Subscription Payments in International Markets

By Minal Bopaiah By their very nature, digital subscriptions are a globalized business. Marketing to international audiences is not as difficult as it was

By Minal Bopaiah

By their very nature, digital subscriptions are a globalized business. Marketing to international audiences is not as difficult as it was back in the pre-Internet days.

However, the one problem most subscription sites and digital publications have is payment processing — particularly in markets like Brazil and India where credit cards are not the common nor growing in acceptance very rapidly.

That’s why we were excited to hear about Bemobi, a mobile app that allows a user to tack app downloads and subscription prices to their monthly mobile bill. This way, the consumer doesn’t need to open a credit card.

The service is launching in Brazil, a market with poor adoption of credit cards, and will be available for Android devices only (iOS or Apple devices require credit card registration to create an iTunes account, and therefore, these devices are not as popular in international markets like Brazil).

Bemobi will tie its services to Brazilian mobile carrier Oi, and subscription fees can be charged against the user’s prepaid balance or added monthly to their post-paid billing statements.

Moreover, Bemobi will only make 500 apps available through its store, thereby creating a smaller marketplace and curated experience. No word yet on how apps will be selected for Bemobi’s marketplace. In addition, the service is integrated with Facebook so that users can share and get recommendations for apps from their friends.

This sort of platform is great for tapping into untouched markets for digital subscription revenue. The only problem, from an app publisher perspective, is that Bemobi is likely creating the same problem publishers have with Apple — that is, a Bemobi-branded experience. At this time, it doesn’t look like Bemobi will be sharing consumer email addresses or mobile numbers with merchants, so retention efforts will be difficult.

However, having an alternative payment method for Android devices is critical at this juncture, especially as Google Wallet makes a push to collect credit card numbers and other subscription telecommunications services look for pre-paid options.