SMS payments?

[codescribbler]

OK...now it's on-topic!!

How do SMS payments work??

[tke71709]

In a nutshell...

You set yourself with an SMS payment gateway, they give you a number.

People send an SMS message to the number, the charge appears on their phonebill and you get your cut.

[farheen]

Although tke71709 is right about setting yourself up with a sms payment gateway, there are actually two ways of earning revenue through SMS.

1) MO - The sender is charged for a message he/she sends you.
2) MT - The recipient is charged for a message you send him/her.

The availibility of either of these is country/network dependant, and MT is most commonly found. So, in this situation, the sender sends you a message to which you reply and it is in the reply message that the revenue is earned!

Hope that helps!

[JoshU]

I know in a thread a few days ago some people didn't know what SMS is, so if you're not familiar with it you can learn more about it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Short_message_service

[confined]

MAN! That stuff is GOLD. I wish I delved into SMS sooner! Wow. It's just amazing that someone can use their phone, send a msg, me send one back and boom, I make revenue. That's unbelievable.

I definitely have to implement this in my future ecommerce site!

[asr_guy]

Payment via SMS has been around for years in Europe, especially Scandinavia. I have seen parking meters and car washes in Finland where you just send a msg to the number posted on the sign and bing-badaboom the charge comes on your next mobile phone bill.

I can see SMS very handy for micro-payments online.

Is there a list of SMS payment gateways that support SMS for online payments?

Regards,
Peter

[M. Johansson]

However, it should be noted that SMS payments have many advantages, they are still EXTREMELY expensive. Very close to half the amount are eaten up in transaction fees.

[Edman]

Is there any way of going about implementing SMS payments on a more international basis? Right now I have a script running that has SMS as its only payment option, simply because a single payment is only $0.50, but I live in Latvia, and what on earth would happen if someone from Sweden sent an SMS?

Obviously, as single payments are only $0.50, other payment options are really non-viable.

[M. Johansson]

Is there any way of going about implementing SMS payments on a more international basis? Right now I have a script running that has SMS as its only payment option, simply because a single payment is only $0.50, but I live in Latvia, and what on earth would happen if someone from Sweden sent an SMS?

Obviously, as single payments are only $0.50, other payment options are really non-viable.

you have to implement them on a country-by-contry basis so far, since the implementations are so different. Clickatell.com can help you with this.

[codescribbler]

That is so cool! Thanks!