Zong (mobile payments)

Zong was a mobile payment company that allowed users to make payments of small amounts of money on the internet through postpaid mobile phones. These payments were charged in mobile phone bills by the mobile operator. The company was bought by eBay in 2011 and disappeared in 2015. 

Zong was based on PayPal based service. Many online games and social networks supported its mobile payment system. It can also be used to buy non-physical things.

Zong was the global division of the mobile payment company Echovox. It was started in 2008 and eBay bought it in 2011. It is connected with 67 mobile operators in 13 countries.

Marketing
Zong focused on social networks and online games.  They were useful to people who did not have a credit card and those who wanted to make small purchases online. Zong allowed them to pay with their mobile terminal and the amount was then debited by the mobile operator.

The partnership of Zong with mobile operators allowed them to charge customers using short numbers.  On March 12, 2009, Zong announced to stop short messaging services and target its mobile payment system.  Zong published an application programming interface to allow developers to sell and publish content to mobile customers worldwide.

References

Category:Finance