Tests on alternative payment systems to the “native” one in the Google Play Store extend to many new countries, Europe included. The so-called User Choice Billing was inaugurated in March with Spotify after the pressure exerted by the South Korean government that forced the Mountain View company to adapt.
In practice, this consists in the fact that if a user wants to subscribe to Spotify he can do so by paying either through Google Play or directly on the streaming music platform.
The novelty essentially concerns the developers – and consequently it will obviously affect all of us consumers – and it is limited to apps not game. It is a test phase to evaluate the feasibility of alternative payment systems to the one initially envisaged: Google relies on developers to obtain feedback that allows it to refine the tool.
CONDITIONS TO BE MET FOR DEVELOPERS
- possibility to offer alternative billing systems only to smartphone or tablet users in the following countries:
- EEA (European Economic Area) | Italy included
- Australia
- India
- Indonesia
- Japan
- alternative billing systems only within the app
- compliance with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS)
- offer direct assistance to users who choose the alternative billing system. The alternative system “must provide a procedure for contesting unauthorized transactions“
- notify Google of changes to app registration preferences (e.g. enabling / disabling alternative billing)
When a consumer chooses to use an alternative billing system, the service fee the developer must pay will be reduced by 4%.
According to Google statistics, 99% of developers pay commissions ≤ 15%.
Credits opening image: Pixabay
