Direct carrier billing, explained for content owners
How charging a subscription to the user's mobile bill works, why it reaches people that cards and app stores miss, and what to plan for before you launch.
Direct carrier billing, or DCB, lets a user pay for a digital service by charging it to their mobile phone bill or prepaid balance. No card, no app-store account, no new login: they confirm with their mobile number and the operator collects the payment.
It is one of the three ways our own products are paid for, alongside in-app purchase on Google Play and the App Store, and card billing on the web. Here is how it works and when it makes sense.
How a carrier-billed subscription works
The steps differ by operator and market, but the shape is the same:
- Discovery. A user arrives on a landing page, usually from an ad.
- Identification. The user’s mobile number is recognised over the operator’s network or entered by hand.
- Consent. The user confirms the subscription and its price, often with a one-time PIN or a confirmation screen run by the operator.
- Charge. The operator bills the subscription to the phone bill or deducts it from prepaid credit.
- Renewal. Charges repeat on the agreed plan, daily, weekly or monthly, until the user unsubscribes.
The subscription flows
How the user confirms (step 3 above) depends on the operator and the market. These are the flows in use today:
| Flow | How the subscriber confirms |
|---|---|
| PIN flow | Enters their mobile number and confirms with a one-time PIN sent by SMS. |
| 1-click flow | On mobile data the operator recognises the subscriber, and one tap confirms. |
| 2-click flow | Two confirmations, on the service page and on the operator’s own page. |
| SMS flow | Sends a keyword to a short code to subscribe. |
| USSD flow | Subscribes through a USSD menu, with no data connection needed. |
Regulators and operators decide which flows a market allows, so the same product can launch with a PIN flow in one country and a 2-click flow in the next.
Why it reaches more people
In many markets, more people have a mobile number than a credit card. Carrier billing turns that number into a payment method. For users it removes the hardest step in buying a subscription; for content owners it opens audiences that card-only checkouts never reach.
Carrier billing, card or app store?
The three ways to sell a subscription suit different users:
| Carrier billing | Card | App store | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What the user needs | A mobile number | A debit or credit card | A Google Play or App Store account with a payment method |
| Where the charge appears | Phone bill or prepaid balance | Card statement | The store account |
| Who handles the payment | The mobile operator | A payment provider | Apple or Google |
| Works best where | Card use is low and mobile use is high | Users already pay online by card | The service is an app on the stores |
Many services use more than one. Our own apps are sold through all three.
What to plan for
Carrier billing rewards preparation. Before launching, think about:
- Operator rules. Each operator sets its own flows, price points and consent requirements. They are not interchangeable.
- Regulation. Markets have specific rules on advertising, pricing display and how users unsubscribe.
- Traffic quality. Acquisition that brings the wrong users shows up quickly in complaints and churn. It pays to buy traffic carefully.
- Support. Users will contact you about charges. Fast, clear handling of complaints protects both the user and the operator relationship.
How we approach it
We started in carrier billing in 2015 and are connected today with more than 40 operators in over 25 countries. Every connection runs through VMS, our carrier billing platform, so a new product goes live by configuration rather than a new integration. See the operators we work with and where we bill. The same system handles the subscriber analytics, monitoring and support automation that carrier billing needs after launch.
Our own apps run on the same connections first, so every flow is tested in market before a partner uses it.
Thinking about carrier billing for your service? Tell us your market and we will show you how it would work there.
