Juniper Research says the growth reflects the increasing adoption of carrier billing as an option for digital commerce spending.

Direct carrier billing involves users charging payments for digital and physical goods to their mobile phone bill.

Juniper Research urges carrier billing vendors to prioritise partnerships with leading gaming platforms to serve this market.

Digital goods: The US$11 billion carrier billing opportunity
Operator-billed carrier billing revenue for digital goods will grow to US$11 billion in 2026 from US$8 billion in 2022.

High costs per transactions for carrier billing payments versus card and digital wallet payments were considered a limiting factor, but identified operator reach was seen as compelling, according to the research.

Explains Juniper Research co-author and head of research Nick Maynard: “In the face of a rapidly accelerating digital transformation within payments, operators can be in the driver’s seat for reaching potential users, given their access to existing subscribers. Leveraging this subscription base is critical to accessing this potential revenue source.”

Remote physical goods payments: the high-growth opportunity
Physical goods spending through carrier billing is growing faster than digital goods spending at a rate of 270% over the next four years.

Juniper Research noted while the market is still growing, it represents an opportunity with spending set to exceed US$13 billion in 2026.

The study recommends targeting cross-border e-commerce vendors for partnerships given their need to onboard localised payment methods.

This first appeared in the subscription newsletter CommsWire on 17 May 2022.