Zong, one of the major players in mobile payment systems, has now expanded its payment platform to almost all smartphones and mobile devices. The Zong payment platform that was previously available only for HTML and Android based devices can now be integrated with any environment, including Flash, Unity, Interactive TV, gaming consoles, and the mobile web.
Launch a social media campaign that will build your brand and deliver results in our online Social Media Marketing Boot Camp starting June 7. Speakers include Abigail Cusick (Bravo Digital), Gregory Galant (Sawhorse Media), Alex Leo (Thomson Reuters Digital), Jim Tobin (Ignite Social Media), and many more. Read the reviews. 
At this year’s Social Gaming Summit, I had the chance to sit down with David Marcus, the CEO and founder of Zong, a leading mobile payment provider. In short, they allow players to pay for virtual goods online by simply entering their mobile phone number and having the charges added to their mobile phone bill. They’ve been making waves by working directly with Facebook on several initiatives, including being one of the first to test their Facebook Credits platform, and have spread out to reach 176 carriers in 40 countries with their services. David had a lot of interesting insights about the burgeoning social games and virtual currency market.
Monetization of tweens is an issue facing many virtual worlds today. Recognizing its user base’s propensity for SMS, the tween-focused virtualworld Woozworld partnered with Zong to enable tweens to use the mobile payment platform’s simple and secure solutions to purchase virtual goods. Woozworld operates a virtual environment, targeted for 9-14 year olds, where players can create spaces, run activities and even their own business. The Montreal-based company spun off from its parent Tribal Nova last month and announced raising a $3m funding round which it is now using to expand offering for users and accelerate market traction.
Read more
Mobile payments platform Zong has processed transactions for 10 million unique users in 2009 alone. That’s quite a milestone for less than a year of operations, and it really speaks to the widespread growth of mobile payments for virtual goods and other commerce exchanges.
Available in 19 countries across 100 carriers, Zong is also announcing new carrier partners in Eastern Europe, Russia, Southeast Asia and South America. That gives Zong a significant amount of growth potential as it looks to dominate the market for mobile payments.
Read more
