How it works is fairly simple: A website lists a telephone number managed by PasswordByPhone, a surfer calls it and listens to a 5.5-minute password announcement in his or her native language, the surfer gets temporary access to the site in question and PasswordByPhone splits the profits from the call with the content provider. Webmasters are paid anywhere from $.50 to $10 per password, depending on where the call originates.
Simple, yes, but apparently also profitable, if recent announcements are any indication. Representatives at affiliate program CE Cash, for example, said dialer revenues tripled when partnering with the company.
"We are now making money from countries that typically were not producing dialer revenue results,” said CE Cash representative CEJohn. “Money talks, in every language."
With Jupitermedia predicting China will overtake the United States in Internet users by 2009, the move to the Chinese market was obvious, according to Marc Jarrett, business development manager at PasswordByPhone.
“We [allow] webmasters to start making money from this massive new market, “ Jarrett told XBiz. “Chinese surfers will be pleasantly surprised to see a call-to-action in Chinese.”
With the addition of the Chinese market, PasswordByPhone customers in more than 240 countries can access password services in their native language, enabling a means of payment far more ubiquitous in today’s global economy than credit cards.
"Most people worldwide do not have a credit card," said Jarrett. "But by definition, all surfers have access to a phone line.”
PasswordByPhone currently has agreements in place with more than 20 telecommunication companies worldwide.