Mar 2, 2016 7:03 AM PST    Text size: 

SITGES, Spain — Amsterdam-based payment facilitator Verotel announced today during the European Summit in Sitges, Spain that it will start distributing virtual reality Cardboard headsets to customers of merchants offering VR content.

The Verotel Cardboard headsets can be used in conjunction with a smartphone to view recorded or live VR content. Since these headsets are neutrally branded and shipped in discreet packaging, they allow a larger audience access to adult VR content and create a higher revenue stream for merchants.

Since their introduction in 2014, Verotel said, "VR Cardboard headsets have found few practical uses because of the classic chicken-or-the-egg problem. The availability of VR headsets has reduced the prospective growth of VR content production. Now that high-resolution smartphones are more widely available, more and more people are able to consume VR content with the help of a simple cardboard box. Increasing the availability of these headsets will boost the VR content production industry."

Jason Collins, senior business development manager at Verotel, said, "Virtual reality content is really happening right now. It is more immersive and offers a better experience than traditional video, and merchants are able to charge more and attract a wider audience. Until now, however, the process of getting those VR headsets to consumers was often discouraging. In order to deliver the cardboard boxes to the consumer's door, online merchants needed to develop a specific ordering and shipping process or send their visitors to an external website. This dramatically affects conversion and profitability. With Verotel's seamless integration within the order page, all of its merchants are able to deliver the VR headsets in a non-intrusive way, improving the further demand for VR content."

The new VR headset distribution service will be available beginning May 17 for all merchants offering VR content. As an extra incentive, Verotel also invites VR-only merchants to join its VR Pioneer Program and benefit from free cardboard boxes for all of their customers.

As a first-day supporter of VR technology, Verotel is betting that the widespread distribution of VR headsets will have a positive effect on the industry as a whole.

Verotel Merchant Services B.V. is an Internet payment service provider that has been in business for 19 years. It is registered and regulated as a payment institution with the Dutch Central Bank as a payment facilitator with MasterCard and a merchant agent with Visa. Verotel started its business in 1997 in San Francisco and moved its headquarters to the Netherlands in 2001.