Bango enables new payment option for Amazon customers in Japan

Bango, the leading mobile payments company, announces that it has enabled a new payment method for Amazon customers in Japan. Amazon customers with a KDDI or NTT DOCOMO mobile phone account can now pay for physical goods from Amazon.co.jp, by charging the cost to their mobile phone bill.

Adding carrier billing as a payment option increases choice for customers in Japan, making it easy to complete purchases. Selecting this payment method enables instant purchase completion, without needing to register card details online. Bango technology ensures reliability, security and customer success when paying with carrier billing.

Charging online payments to a phone bill is a widely-adopted payment method in Japan, where mobile usage is deeply embedded into business and culture. The Japanese market has pioneered carrier billing, offering it as a simple and secure payment method, enabling more consumers to purchase goods and services, online and in retail stores. It is a highly effective way to engage new customers and is popular with younger consumers.

The payment method opened-up to purchase goods on Amazon.co.jp at the start of June, greatly increasing the range of products that can be charged to the phone bill by KDDI and NTT DOCOMO customers, who cover around 75% of all mobile subscribers in Japan (Telecommunications Carriers Association, Japan, 2016).

“Internet usage in Japan is mobile-first, with billions of dollars in online purchases charged to Japanese consumers’ phone bills,” said Ray Anderson, Bango CEO. “The Bango Platform ensures global retailers can offer these customers the trust and transparency they want from a payment method, and can deliver this at scale.”

To use this payment option, a KDDI or NTT DOCOMO subscriber simply adds carrier billing as a payment option in their Amazon.co.jp account and then purchases can be made from any device, with the cost charged to their post-paid phone bill.