From South Africa, local telecommunications services provider Telkom, in conjunction with Google and mobile payment platform Bango, has announced Direct Carrier Billing – an integrated carrier billing service for Google Play for smartphones and tablets.

In what the companies describe as a South African first, Telkom's Event Billing service has been combined with the Bango Payments Platform to offer customers a channel through which to purchase products from the Google Play Store and charge it directly to their mobile phone accounts or airtime. Customers can also make in-app purchases.

In a media release Telkom states that this 'frictionless' payment experience is emerging as the preferred model for payment in app stores "enabling more consumers to access paid content, without the need for credit/debit cards or to register personal details."

Telkom explains that to engage the service and transact securely, users must have a Telkom mobile SIM card in an Android device that is connected to Telkom's mobile network.

Products can then be selected directly from Google Play Store, with Telkom Billing as the payment method.

A double opt-in process is included to ensure that customers are aware of their app purchase and, as the service provider says, "are not surprised when their account is billed for the purchase."

Ray Anderson, chief executive officer at Bango, said: "Bango has long understood that sub-Saharan Africa is a key growth market for our frictionless payment technology."