Micropayments are Key To The Future of Publishing
Micropayments are small payments between 0.10 and 10 euros.
Some important micropayments systems are based upon mobile phone accounts, and enable handset owners
to make payments that are then added to their phone bill or deducted from a prepay balance.
In contrast to credit cards, micropayments facilitate the transfers of small amounts of money with
high levels of convenience and anonymity. This is going to revolutionize online publishing because
it will facilitate the sale of small ticket content items that would not previously have been possible.
ATTENTION - Major new features to be announced October 2004 that will superceed existing setup.
Please contact sales for full release details.
System 7 has a backend connection to the Vodafone mpay micropayments system and is at the forefront
of enabling publishers to capitalize on the new possibilities. Using System 7 publishers can configure
micropayment tariffs on their content. For example, they can specify that access to a particular
channel should be provided at a rate of 2 euros for 6 hours.
When a user wishes to access content which has had a micropayments tariff assigned to it, they are
directed to a payment page, which they must complete with the help of a Vodafone mobile handset (in
early 2005 european users will be enabled to make such payments using any major operator thanks to
the work of Simpay. System 7 is also working
on providing mechanisms for US users).
Whereas users would be unlikely to part with their credit card details for such a transaction, the
possibility of making payments quickly and anonymously using a mobile phone transforms the situation.
Publishers can now unlock the value of content using mechanisms other than advertising and site sponsorship.
Micropayments also help publishers solve issues related to business models that
combine print and online publishing. For example, if the primary purpose of a print magazine
is to provide reviews of new products, a publisher may deliberate about the point at which review content
should appear in an online sister publication that can be accessed for free.
This problem is solved by System 7 micropayments. The publisher can simply configure a tariff on content
of type "review article", for example, which allows users to read the first half of articles for free, but which asks
them for a small payment to access the second half.
By using System 7 micropayment tariffs publishers can find drive new revenues and better unlock the underlying
value of content while also upgrading their business models.
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