Valista, a provider of payments software, has launched a service designed to accelerate commerce in premium services (music, games, movie clips, information services) by enabling providers to easily package their products and services in a variety of targeted consumer and SME offers.
Operators have been hampered in the packages they can offer by the complexities of providing settlement to a number of content providers within one package.
Valista OffersPlus extends the company’s product offerings to mobile operators, as well as to portals, ISPs and other service providers and resellers, enabling them to reach the widest customer base by supporting various access channels, payment methods and multiple ways to buy premium content and services.
In the past, settlement with a number of content providers for content bundled into a single package was very complex. This made it difficult to provide promotional discounts such as the first month free, the second month at half price and subsequent months at full price.
Valista OffersPlus simplifies this process by providing an integrated solution for content delivery and payment, enabling consumers to access the offerings from any access channel, and to pay using their payment instrument of choice,
These offers are reflected in self-care and customer care applications, and the financial operations associated with disbursing the funds back to content providers and other members of the value chain are automatically handled.
According to Adam Zawel, director of Wireless/Mobile Enterprise & Commerce at Yankee Group, “Marketing strategies are limited by inflexible payment systems. Valista’s new offering frees carriers and others to try new schemes to win customers. This billing flexibility is vital, especially in new markets like mobile entertainment and online music. Payment flexibility is also essential for supply chain harmony, as market participants, like operators and content providers, merge their business models.”
The mobile operator, ISP or portal can enable content providers to host their own content and storefronts, using the capabilities of Valista OffersPlus to manage their more sophisticated bundled or subscription offerings, or if they choose to, the portal can maintain the storefront, with the service and content providers handling the fulfilment. The license models include time-limited and time-and-event-limited, individual or bundled offers.