The Prepaid Press - November 15, 2007 - (Page 13)

WIRELESS November 15 · 2007 - 13 Online Prepaid Wireless Recharge from page 1 curtail usage. • Inconsistent Usage Patterns. With a conventional wireless contract, you pay for a level of service every month. Even with roll over plans, it is possible that the usage of the phone will not level out over time. or by transfer from a checking account. If the consumer uses a credit/debit card or arranges transfers from a checking account, it becomes a “hybrid” between prepaid and traditional post paid service. A hybrid account would not be based on a contract, but customers would have little control over expenditures since the account would be recharged whenever it runs low. With the major carriers, hybrid is the only online option available. But, there is a fourth way, one that is gaining in popularity. That way is to recharge prepaid wireless accounts online. There are an increasing number of third party companies that now offer recharge of many of the popular prepaid wireless plans online. Websites such as wirelessrefill.com, babblebug.com, ldpost.com, card-calls.com, blackstoneonline.com and prepaidwireless.com all offer online recharging of prepaid wireless accounts. Recharges can be paid with traditional payment methods, like credit and debit, but most online providers also accept gift cards, stored value cards, PayPal and other online payments. In most cases, the consumer will ﬁrst have to buy a handset and an initial plan from a carrier, like AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint and Verizon, or from an MNVO, like TracFone, Boost, Movida, Jump, Total Call, TúYo, Virgin, or others. Once they have a phone and a phone number, consumers can then go to one of the websites and order the number of minutes they want. Although adding the balance varies by carrier, the usual method is to buy a PIN from one of the online resellers and add it to the prepaid account. In the case of GoPhone, the customer buys the time, and gets a PIN. They then dial a special 800 number, and use the menu system to go to the area where they can enter the PIN supplied by the reseller. Why Recharge Online? So, the question is, why would a consumer use an online service for recharge? Let’s go for a moment to the AT&T scenario we covered before. AT&T offers three options for recharge, but none of them are an online option. They all Who Recharges Online? It is the other groups, tweens, elderly, and young adults, who make up the greatest number of those who buy prepaid wireless services. These groups have a different perception of wireless and different usage patterns. For the most part, they are not interested in fancy features like online entertainment, or fancy sets, like the iPhone. They are more interested in the utility and security value of having a cellular phone. They are more concerned about high value and require only the basics, making and receiving calls, and maybe text messaging. Online recharge offers a way for customers who are not near a bricks and mortar recharge location to buy minutes. involve either debit/credit cards or a checking account. Hybrids, in other words. For the 25% of prepaid wireless customers that want true pay-as-you-go, you have to use an online service. In fact, many carriers, especially MVNOs, send customers looking for pay-as-you-go to one of the wireless recharge sites listed above. Many times, the online reseller discounts the minutes, and may have a lower tax rate. For example, if the reseller is selling the minutes to someone in another state, sales tax may not apply. This could give the customer a 5-10% discount for these costs. Why don’t the carriers want to do the online recharges themselves? “It’s a lot of risk,” said Mark Flanagan, of PrepaidWireless.com. “There is no protection on a virtual transaction. Unless you have the proper tools, the right scrubbing mechanisms built into your systems, the thieves will come out But, there is a fourth way, one that is gaining in popularity. That way is to recharge prepaid wireless accounts online. This group has greater access to credit and banking, enabling them to consider recharging their accounts online. They are a minority, and 75% of all top-ups will happen in a store. The other 25% of prepaid wireless users recharge online, and the number is growing. AT&T’s website offers three ways to reﬁll GoPhone pay as you go accounts. Customers can pay at an AT&T store by credit or debit card, in droves.” He said that once a security hole is discovered, word will spread in the chat rooms. “They’ll put you out of business as fast as you get into business,” he added. Flanagan said that, for this reason, carriers are content to turn the risky recharges over to companies like his, who are equipped to handle the issues associated with online recharge of prepaid wireless accounts. Flanagan said he is basically in the fraud prevention business. “At the end of the day, these companies want to make sure the customer is taken care of,” offered Flanagan. Online recharge offers a way for customers who are not near a bricks and mortar recharge location to buy minutes. Outsourcing the online recharging gives carriers a way to service these geographically disconnected customers, but without the risk normally associated with processing online payments. Many of the online rechargers also offer new plans, including handsets, that can be purchased online. The online resellers can also offer new plans for existing handsets. In the case of GSM, this would involve a new SIM, which they would supply to the customer to replace the existing SIM. Some of them even buy back used handsets for refurbishing and resale. Online prepaid wireless recharging is an example of a niche that has been created by the growth of prepaid wireless service. As any market matures, new opportunities arise that the entrepreneur can capitalize upon, for their own beneﬁt, and the beneﬁt of consumers and the carriers. Wireless in Brief Virgin Mobile USA has launched the new Wild Card by Kyocera Wireless. The first Virgin Mobile handset with streaming music capability, Wild Card gives customers the ability to listen to their favorite music right through the phone, and “ups the ante” on the full texting keyboard capabilities of last year’s Switch_Back phone. Among its most notable features are two vibrant color displays. The first on the front face of the phone is for voice calls. But by turning the phone sideways and giving its face a quick flip, customers have access to the Wild Card’s wide screen – along with a sizeable QWERTY keypad designed to make emailing, texting, IMing, gaming, browsing online, or streaming full music tracks simple and enjoyable. The Wild Card is being paired with the newest messaging offer from Virgin Mobile USA - unlimited domestic messaging including text, IM, email and picture messaging for $19.99 per month. When customers activate their Wild Card and purchase their first month of unlimited messaging, they will receive their second month free. Virgin Mobile USA – www.virginmobileusa.com Verizon Wireless has launched updated prepaid plans, under its INpulse brand. The new plans, INpulse Core, INpulse Plus and INpulse Power, charge customers a daily access fee only on the days of use and include Unlimited IN Calling to Verizon Wireless customers nationwide. The carrier also has added V CAST as an optional service on all INpulse plans. Now INpulse customers can purchase and download songs from the V CAST music library directly from their V CAST-enabled handsets, customers also have access to more ringtones, ringback tones, Mobile Web 2.0, games and other applications, such as VZ Navigator using funds in their INpulse accounts. The new INpulse plans start at 99 cents per day (customers are only charged for the days they use service), with calls and text messages starting at 2 cents a minutes. Unlimited ‘IN’ calling, calls made to or received from any Verizon Wireless phone, are included with each new INpulse plan. Verizon Wireless – www.verizonwireless.com Ericsson and AT&T have signed a hosting agreement to provide real-time charging services for AT&T’s GoPhone wireless pre-paid service in the US and Puerto Rico. GoPhone has been hosted on Ericsson’s convergent real-time charging system for the past several years and this new contract adds a further three-and-a-half years. Under the contract, Ericsson will be responsible for hosting, systems integration and management of the day-to-day operations of the pre-paid service for AT&T. Ericsson – www.ericsson.com AT&T – www.att.com TMT Capital Corporation and its subsidiary Freedom Wireless Corporation have announced that Freedom Wireless Corporation has acquired an MNVO (Mobile Virtual Network Operator) license that allows Freedom Wireless to market and sell Cellular Voice, Data and Messaging services to the GMS cellular consumer markets in the USA and Canada. Freedom will predominantly market into the prepaid cellular, affiliate and nonprofit markets offering unique products that will allow users the capability to enjoy free cellular-to-cellular calling on the Freedom Wireless network, for selected plans starting at $10.00 per month. TMT Capital – www.tmtcapitalcorp.com http://blackstoneonline.com http://prepaidwireless.com http://prepaidwireless.com http://prepaidwireless.com http://prepaidwireless.com http://www.verizonwireless.com http://www.virginmobileusa.com http://www.allstateprint.com http://www.allstateprint.com http://www.ericsson.com http://www.tmtcapitalcorp.com http://www.att.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of The Prepaid Press - November 15, 2007

The Prepaid Press - November 15, 2007 Online Wireless Recharge It's a Wrap for Gift Cards Contents GENERAL PREPAID Prepaid 101: Merchandising Regulatory Rundown: Wireless Broadband, LNP, Internet Taxes, and Stored Value Legislation Guest Editorial: Honest Minutes: "The Times They Are A-Changing" 5 Minutes With Daniel Neal, CEO of kajeet The Legal Line Prepaid Wireless Roundup WIRELESS Wireless in Brief 011 Mobile Launches Mobile International Dialing Hop-on Adds GSM Phone to Product Line Virgin Mobile USA Launches New Services kajeet Adds to Handset Line MarketStar Publishes Mobile Phone Usage Study Nokia and Cellfire Team Up Verizon Selects Firethorn iVisionMobile Launches Messaging Platform Sprint Expands "Unlimited by Boost" INTERNATIONAL Spot Rates NOMAD Brings MasterCard EMS to Europe R&M Finds Potential in Africa International in Brief TELECOM & TECHNOLOGY Caveat Emptor When Negotiating IP Licensing T&T in Brief MySpace and Skype Ink Deal Octastic Announces New Media Gateway DSP Pactolus Selected by Global Crossing Tadiran Announces New Loyalty Incentive Program Oblio Telecom Launches New Prepaid Products Total Call Enhances Prepaid Calling Cards PAYMENTS A Gift Card Technology Guide Pinnacle and PaySpot Roll Out POS/Prepaid Solution TIO Networks Announces Membership Program TransFund$ Partners with TruckersB2B AMR Finds Retailers Returning to Main Street Payments in Brief Diebold to Offer Prepaid Gift Card Technology InComm to Sell nFinanSe Discover Cards iVisionMobile Offers Retailers Mobile Payments i2c to Offer Stored Value Webinars Mobilians Starts U.S. Mobile Payments Operation NetSpend Increases Savings Program Interest EXTRAS Classifieds Contact Us Our Advertisers

The Prepaid Press - November 15, 2007

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