Mark my words: Micropayments are going to change the economy - well, at least the micro-economies of social networks.
eBIZ.Mobility announced the availiability of a Facebook payment plugin for its OneTouch Online Purchasing payment processing system. Application developers will be able to monetize Facebook traffic by adding an alternative pyament option into their app offerings. There is a good example here of how it works available on Facebook. There is a downside of course. In order to buy digital content, consumers will need to charge an existing billing account with the participating telecom service provider, prepaid card or bank of their choice. Right now, the options are limited but there is clearly potential in the offering.
According to Jeremy Kagan, eBIZ.mobility's CEO, micropayments are reinventing the online monetization model. "OneTouch Online Purchasing is very excited to be in a position to take full advantage of the micropayment revolution internationally," said Kagan. "More than 70% of Facebook users are based outside the USA, and now every application that's built for Facebook can be quickly and easily monetized worldwide, guaranteeing that any customer anywhere in the world can purchase safely and effortlessly."
If you've got a Facebook app, are you considering adding a paid level? If not, consider this: over 52,000 apps have been added by developers looking to tap into the potential of the social site's 200 million plus audience - and 70% of those users interact with apps.
Sample of how the plugin appears in apps: