Amazon Tests Carrier Billing for Digital Mobile Purchases in Germany

Retail giant Amazon is experimenting with a new form of mobile purchasing in Europe — allowing customers to pay for digital goods, such as music, e-books and in-app acquisitions, as part of their monthly phone bill.

Amazon just announced a partnership with technology company Bango and mobile carrier Telefónica Deutschland to allow O2 network customers in Germany who buy goods through the Amazon Appstore to charge the transaction to their O2 bill.

This payment method, known in the industry as “carrier billing,” is often associated with emerging markets such as India or Brazil, where millions of people own mobile phones but may lack credit cards to make digital purchases.

Carrier billing also appears to be gaining momentum in developed regions like Europe, where Jupiter Research reports some 283 million adults lack a debit card to pay for digital content.

The news comes on the heels of Apple’s announcement of plans to launch a mobile wallet, dubbed Apple Pay, which has already won support from major banks, such as J.P. Morgan Chase and Bank of America, credit card companies including American Express, and retailers such as McDonald’s.

Apple Pay will be available in October.

This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

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