Over 4 mln euros paid by mobilpay

Romanians made about 620,000 payments by their mobile phones in 2009, the average value of each transaction being seven euros, while the total amount paid was more than 4.4 million euros, a release of Netopia Sistem company informs.

Netopia Sistem operated around 80 percent of the total amount of payments made in 2009 by SMS, namely 3.5 million euros.

'There were over 600 Romanian websites having marketed their contents with the mobile phone's help in 2009. We are talking of more than 3,000 products and services traded by SMS,' Antonio Eram, general manager and founder of Netopia Company said.

Netopia estimates a 30 percent increase in the number of transactions over mobile phones in 2010, this segment's trend being in accordance with the trend of credit card online payments.

'While in the case of credit card online payments the users' reluctance greatly influences the growth pace, in the case of SMS payments we are still dealing with a small number of traders having access to this service, though SMS payment is the most accessible way of selling a product or a service, given that all Romanians have a mobile phone close by with which they can quickly make a purchase without disclosing their personal data and account information,' Antonio Eram said.

The mobilepay service with mobile phones, launched in 2006, saw the number of the processed transactions double on an annual basis. At the end of last year, mobilpay was extended to credit card online payments and the Netopia officials estimated they would reach a 30 percent market share until the end of the year. Netopia Sistem Company, established in 2003, is a mobilpay operator and mobile services, messaging, marketing and communication provider, Agerpres informs.