Find quick answers to the most important questions.
Relario is a unique OTT (Over The Top) billing provider that uses the existing global inter-operator telecoms payment flow to enable consumers in over 100 “hard-to-reach” countries to pay merchants for digital goods online, safely, easily, anonymously from any phone. No bank account or credit card is required for the consumer and there is no payment or local forex risk for merchants.
Merchants integrate the relario PAY API with their online payments page. Merchants can set relario PAY as their default payment option for over 100 geo-locations. Depending on their network operator, a customer will be asked to text or call a number in order to access the content or receive the digital goods or services
Yes especially for geos with a high rate of unbanked population i.e. people with no access to electronic payment means. The size of the positive increment depends on the business context. A crucial component is the ease and simplicity of relario PAY — users only need to send SMS or push the CALL button.
Merchants get a predefined payout per SMS and/or call minute so they do not have to worry about transaction charges.
With relario PAY the merchant does not have to worry about that because merchant gets a flat payout per SMS and/or call minute that applies for users worldwide without any deductions.
Very fast! relario PAY offers payment terms ranging from weekly to monthly payments.
No restrictions. All lawful businesses are welcome.
We offer our services to anybody who needs to bill legitimate digital goods or services.
In general — yes. The exception would be any country under an international embargo or limitations imposed by the Swiss Government. Currently, countries, where we are not allowed to open an account for merchants, include but are not limited to CUBA, SYRIA, IRAQ, N.KOREA, IRAN, and LIBYA.
Depending on the level of customization, integration can take from 24 hours to one week.
There are no chargebacks for legally compliant content. Our anti-fraud team, with its advanced technology and 10+ years of experience, has won multiple industry awards.
Yes indeed and it in-app allows for an even more seamless flow.
| Direct Carrier Billing | relario PAY (OTT micro payments) | |
| Content Approval | Content needs approval with mobile carrier (takes long time) Separate approval for each mobile carrier/country (varies per country: limited DCB, pure DCB, MSISDN Forwarding, MSISDN Forward Window, PIN or MO, indirect operator billing Premium SMS) | Minimal compliance check done by relario only and for ALL origins. Usually takes less than 2 hours but 24 hours max. |
| Integration | API integration may vary per country | One API integration (maximum 7 days) allows complete access to 500+ mobile networks worldwide instantly after integration |
| Flow | Usually uses two factor authentication method (MO, MT) User sends one SMS to local shortcode (MO) and gets charged a preset amount defined by merchant | 1 click flow, no double confirmation 0 click flow for apk apps (android) User sends multiple SMS to regular international numbers with a single or zero click and gets charged the rate for regular international SMS |
| Payment Terms | Payment terms start from net 60 or more | Weekly or monthly payment terms |
| Currency | Local currency will be converted at floating rate | Fixed payout in hard currency only (EUR or USD) |
| Fees and Payout | Payout for merchant is determined by a complicated calculation based on the user rate from which local taxes, operator sharing, payment platform sharing, withholding tax, etc. are deducted | Flat rate payout per sms (2 eur cents/sms). One transaction can typically have up to 25 SMS which means up tp €0.50 payout for the merchant. |
| Chargebacks | Chargebacks (refunds, subscription cancellation etc.) | No chargebacks for legal traffic |
| User intelligence | End user remains anonymous to merchant | Merchant automatically gets user’s mobile number from relario PAY API and hence can use it for retargeting |
| Fraud protection | Varies | Automated anti-fraud protection |
Please download our PDF and compare relario Pay with direct carrier billing providers:
DCB versus relario-Pay
Just register for free in 10 seconds on www.relario.com and receive all you need to open up a sandbox test account. Once you are happy with the functionality and want to start collecting payments you will need to fill out a merchant application form which includes standard KYC/AML questions. It takes about 15 minutes to fill out. We normally authorise an account within 24 hours.