Users simply register their credit or debit card information one time with PayNowSMS, after which they can use their phones to buy from any site that offers the PayNowSMS service.
PayNowSMS Chairman Aidan O'Kelly describes the services as a single mobile payment brand, one that he hopes will be widely adopted by adult entertainment, gambling and mainstream online merchants.
“The entertainment and gaming industries have always been the early adopters of new technologies and first to offer innovative services to the market,” O’Kelly said. “We will continue to extend the reach of PayNowSMS to new entrepreneurial merchants, which will in turn provide more variety in services and convenience for PayNowSMS end-users.”
Designed and operated by mobile payment company Upaid, which boasts Visa as one of its primary clients, the program promises lower cash collection costs compared to premium SMS and reverse billing services.
Registered users of the PayNowSMS service send an SMS message to a posted number when they want to purchase something off a site. The message contains a unique code for the merchant and product and is sent to a mobile number dedicated to the service. The Upaid platform then performs the necessary financial authorizations for the card purchase and instructs the appropriate PayNowSMS merchant to deliver the product to the user.
“Services such as PayNowSMS will catalyze the mobile content industry, enabling more merchants to sell their products at an affordable commission rate,” Upaid CEO Ashley Ward said. “This can only result in more choice for end-users and unprecedented growth in the content market.”
