Shah Alam (10 September 2015) — Digi Telecommunications Sdn Bhd (Digi) today announced a strategic partnership with Google enabling an easily accessible and convenient direct billing payment option for Digi customers who want to purchase from the Google Play Store. This initiative, a first among Malaysian telcos, offers Malaysian customers a new safe and secure payment platform for purchasing mobile apps, in-app purchases and content.
Surveys show that many Malaysians are cautious with online payment through credit cards. In 2014, the Visa Consumer Payments Attitudes Study highlighted that 52% of Malaysians are cautious with online payments through credit cards and are more likely to go online only to browse for items.
Furthermore, far from all Malaysians have credit cards. According to Bank Negara Malaysia’s Financial Stability and Payment Systems Report 2014 released in March, as of 2014, there were only 8.2 million active credit cards in Malaysia for a projected population of 30.3 million. Assuming an average of 2 cards per person, this translates to about 13% of the population. With this, many Malaysians stand to benefit from being able to purchase apps and other products from the Google Play Store without having to enter credit card details. This is particularly true for young customers.
Through this partnership, Digi customers without credit cards and customers who are cautious of entering credit card details will be able to gain access to a library of apps and experience the convenience of worry-free direct billing. From today, Digi customers can simply add purchases from Google Play Store to their postpaid bill or deduct from their prepaid airtime balance.
“As the first telco in Malaysia to offer direct billing of purchases from Google Play Store to our customers, we’re clearly signaling our intention to lead the way in enabling internet services that enrich our customers’ experience online. Our aim is to be the best mobile internet provider for mass market and, on top of our current efforts to expand our high-speed 4G LTE network coverage, we will continue to introduce services like Direct Billing for Google Play Store which add value for our 11.8 million customers,” said Christian Thrane, Digi’s Chief Marketing Officer.
Digi also hopes this new service will have a positive effect for Malaysian mobile app and content developers. Speaking on this Thrane said: “With Direct Billing for Google Play Store, we hope to inspire mobile app and game developers as well as content providers to create more localized content for the Malaysian market because now they will have a more engaged target market with an easier and more convenient way to pay ensuring developers are suitably rewarded for their effort. We hope this helps cultivate innovation and drives the local app developer community.”
Google Malaysia Industry Head, Prashant Pathmanaban said, “We are pleased to announce this partnership with Digi where we are now providing an alternative payment solution for Google Play Store users through Digi’s Direct Billing.
“We’re also glad to announce the availability of Google Play Newsstand to Malaysians today; Newsstand brings together all of your favorite local and international digital content in one simple experience with over 2,000 different news and magazine sources both free and paid.”
For more information on Digi’s Direct Billing for Google Play and to learn steps on configuring Android-based devices to make payment through Digi’s postpaid phone bills or prepaid credit, please visit digi.my/GooglePlay.
