On Wednesday 26th September, we co-hosted a networking event with O2 at the London Edition. The event brought together a host of impressive brands, and offered insight into the world and future of mobile billing and messaging.
We heard presentations from O2, Stand Up To Cancer, Microsoft and our own CEO Rob Weisz, as well as enjoying some tasty burgers.
Here are our top ten takeaways from the night:
1. When it comes to charity, consumers want to give more via mobile
Stand Up To Cancer’s Imogen Willdigg said that for their 2017 campaign, the £20 price point generated the majority of their mobile donation total — 53%! This proves that increasingly, mobile is a donation mechanic that consumers trust, and introducing the £20 price point has maximised the amount raised.
2. Donors need choice
Imogen went on to say that although over half of the total raised via SMS during the 2017 campaign was via the £20 price point, the value of the £10 price point shouldn’t be dismissed. This price point actually brought in the highest number of donors, as 36% of those that donated via SMS did so via the £10 price point, and 63% did so via the £20 price point. Clearly, donors need the option of more than one price point if donations are to be maximised.
3. The power of mobile
O2’s Murray Findlay argued that mobile has never been more relevant, and that its relevance will only increase in time — 24% of all UK monetary transactions (£125bn) are predicted to be made via mobile by 2025.
4. I’m in a rush — just let me pay
Murray highlighted the slow and often frustrating process of paying for a service using a credit card. He drew upon the 12 fields required to make a credit card payment, including lines of your address, card number and security code. Compare this with carrier billing, whereby payments can be made in just one or two taps.
5. Widest reach
Adopting carrier billing also enables your company to reach the widest possible audience. 94% of UK adults own a mobile phone, whilst only 60% own a credit card.
6. Consumers love carrier billing
O2’s studies have proven that carrier billing is a payment mechanic that consumers love — they report a consistent 80%+ satisfaction rate for carrier billing.
7. Make things easy for your consumers
Grahame Riddell from Microsoft said that it was the ease that appealed to consumers. Even the initial set up of mobile billing is so easy for consumers, as it can be done in just three simple steps.
8. Security
Grahame noted that security was a massive benefit to carrier billing, and drew on the example of a security with an SMS which Microsoft sends to the consumer phone number to validate the user.
9. The big brands have arrived for carrier billing!
CEO of Fonix, Rob Weisz wrapped up the presentations by saying that the likes of ITV, Microsoft, Apple, Google, Spotify, Cancer Research and BT are all embracing the power of carrier billing to great success. Fonix has seen a range of multi-billion pound industries that have an opportunity to use carrier billing effectively in their payment strategies. It’s clear that the future is really exciting for this space.
10. Prizes
It wouldn’t be a Fonix event without a little surprise — attendees were invited to enter a text competition! We then selected a winner using the Fonix winner picker tool, and Jimmy Wing from Cellcast came up trumps. He quite literally had something to take away from the event — a bundle of tech prizes!
You can see more photos from the event on our Facebook page.