The Challenge
Mobile operators are seeing phenomenal growth in pre-pay subscribers, although the growth of pre-pay top up points has not kept pace with this.
There are also inherent problems with current mechanisms, for example:
- Card based top up – high operating costs in issuing and replacing lost cards.
- E-Top Up – since the activation PIN needs to be printed out, transactions tend to be slow and the PINs can be read and used by fraudsters.
- Phone Top Up – requires some form of credit card payment to occur, although most of the youth to young adult consumers which are heavy users of pre-pay phones are not eligible for such cards.
The Solution
Pre-pay subscribers are sent a barcode to their phone when they activate their contract. This barcode forms their virtual top up card, which they scan into a RAPOS™ unit at the retail POS and pay cash to the retailer to top up. The barcode identifies the phone as well as account numbers.
Benefits of the solution:
- No physical cards need be used
- No PIN numbers need to be printed out
- No credit card authorization is required
- Transaction is very quick
Diagram
Step 1: Subscribers sent barcodes when they first register.
Step 2: Subscriber wants to top up – goes to retailer and asks for the top up service at the till. She hands over cash and the retailer initiates the top up.
Step 3: Subscriber scans mobile phone over RAPOS™ unit to identify the SIM card, and the unit authenticates with the operator pre-pay billing systems.
Step 4: Phone is topped up and a confirmation message sent via SMS.
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