Vodafone customers in Germany and the U.K. are getting their first taste of direct carrier billing on their Android devices. Vodafone is the first carrier to offer the service for Android in Europe.
The company started rolling out the service – which allows consumers to buy apps, games and more from the Android Market without entering credit card information – over the weekend. The first users to benefit will be those who bought their devices via Vodafone online and retail channels. It should give app developers a big boost now that there’s an additional way for customers to buy applications, quickly and easily.
Those who are skittish about giving out their credit card information online might find direct carrier billing to be a more secure choice. Vodafone’s developer site says in some countries, up to 90 percent of the market is unwilling or unable to use credit cards.
For U.S. customers at least, credit cards remain the more comfortable payment of choice. A recent survey shows American consumers still trust Visa, American Express and Mastercard more than most other payment options.
