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With certain carriers, Google Play offers the option to charge purchases directly to your cell phone bill. That option is now expanding to three new carriers in three new countries: Smart Cambodia in Cambodia; Entel in Chile; and America Movil Peru in Peru.
If you're not a fan of giving Google your payment information, or your card/bank of choice isn't directly supported, Google Play has allowed carrier billing for a few years now. This means that when you buy an app/book/movie/etc, the payment would be charged to your phone bill.
Google Play carrier billing is expanding to more carriers around the world, as per an update to the support page. Some of the newly listed carriers may have been offering the option for a while (but weren't mentioned in the page), others may be about to add it soon, but the official word is out now.
Users in India have a couple of options when purchasing content from Google Play: credit or debit cards, gift cards, the newly added Netbanking payment method, and direct carrier billing on Idea. But more alternatives are on the way for customers of Airtel and Vodafone.
About a week ago, a couple of readers reported to us that direct carrier billing was showing up for Idea Cellular subscribers in India, but it seemed at the time that the feature wasn't live for everyone and wasn't working reliably for those who had it. Now it's official: the Google Asia Pacific Blog has announced the availability of carrier billing on Idea Cellular.
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- As a reader has reminded us, this actually marks Vodafone's return to Germany. The carrier mysteriously stopped supporting the option back in 2013.
Apps aren't typically all that expensive, but maybe you still rather put them off until after your paycheck arrives. Maybe you're too young for your own card and get your parents to buy your apps. Maybe you just hate the idea of giving Google your credit card number.
Direct carrier billing is one of the easiest ways users can buy apps, games, and other content on the Play Store. In countries where credit cards aren't readily accessible, where gift cards haven't been circulated, and where other methods of payments are either unavailable or not so attainable for everyone, having your operator handle the transaction for you makes things a lot simpler (although usually a bit more expensive thanks to added fees).
There are many ways to pay for apps, games, and other digital goods on Google Play, but one of the most convenient ones is direct carrier billing. It doesn't require you to have a credit or debit card, to set up a Paypal account, or to go hunt for gift cards around your country's stores. All you have to do is just buy and you'll be billed with your operator — sure, some of them like to take a big fat percentage to their pockets, but there's the matter of added convenience.
A new update to Google Play's "Accepted Payment Methods" page has revealed a lot of changes to the direct billing section. First and foremost is the addition of 3 new carriers in Taiwan: Chunghwa Telecom, the country's leading operator with over 11M subscribers (according to Wikipedia), as well as Asia Pacific Telecom and T Star, the fourth and fifth ranked operators, respectively. These join previously supported Taiwan Mobile and FarEasTone Telecom, which have the second and third largest subscriber base in Taiwan.
Direct carrier billing is one of the most convenient ways to buy apps and content from the Play Store. Instead of making sure you have a valid credit or debit card or trying to find gift cards or setting up a Paypal account, you can simply have the purchase amount billed with your regular mobile service.
Millions of smartphones will be bought during the holidays and the new owners' urge to quickly fill them up with apps and games is a great monetary opportunity. That's why Google seems to be eager to cross off many of its carrier billing deals before the end of 2014. So after Saudi Arabia's STC and Indonesia's Indosat, direct billing is expanding to 7 new operators in Europe.
Who wants a faster and easier way to pay for more apps and games? Oh right, you're reading Android Police, I should be ashamed to even ask you this question. But if you live in Poland or the Philippines, you are a lucky app/game addict because Google just turned on direct carrier billing for some of your operators there.