Telefonica and Telenor sign on mobile payments firm Fortumo, ups its payment reach by 460 million users

European telecommunication operators Telefonica and Telenor have signed an agreement with mobile payments firm Fortumo, further solidifying the fast-growing company’s position as one of the leaders in providing such a service.

Telefonica and Telenor’s collaboration with Fortumo would help provide direct carrier billing services to more than 460 million additional subscribers worldwide, according to a news release on Thursday. Direct carrier billing means consumers pay for digital goods via their mobile billing plans with their operators rather than cash, credit cards, or debit cards.

“It makes it much simpler and convenient for consumers to buy digital goods which in turn helps content owners monetize their content,” said Jose Valles, Head of BlueVia at Telefónica Digital.

The latest deal comes not long after Fortumo inked a deal with two of the largest telecom groups in the world, namely Vodafone and China Mobile.

Fortumo, a fast-growing company with offices in Estonia, San Francisco and Beijing, had also in February raised cash from Intel and Graycroft.

The company’s mobile payments work over the web – on desktop, in mobile web and HTML5 apps – and for in-app purchases on Android, Windows 8 and Windows Phone devices. It boasts payment connectivity to over 300 mobile operators in 80 countries, including a number of exclusive direct carrier billing partnerships.

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