Apple is finally starting to allow customers to pay for their App Store and iTunes purchases through carrier billing - at least in Germany.
The company has been reluctant so far in offering this option, although both carriers and customers have long been requesting it. Carriers, for their part, tried to come up with various workarounds, but official support is always better.
Carrier billing comes particularly in handy in markets where a large number of people don't own credit or debit cards, as it makes it easier for them to buy apps or other paid content directly. Otherwise, customers often have to rely on gift cards to make their purchases.
It now seems that Apple is finally taking steps to remedy this situation, as the company finally started supporting carrier billing in Germany through Telefonica's O2.
This adds a simple and convenient way to pay for iTunes and App Store purchases beyond credit or debit cards, allowing customers to link their phone number and charge the content to their mobile bills.
O2 customers in Germany can now enter their phone number instead of a credit or debit card number into their iTunes account information and take advantage of this new payment method.
Once they have entered their phone number, all of their subsequent purchases from iTunes, App Store, Apple Music or iBooks will automatically be charged directly to their phone bill. Customers who are not on contract, meanwhile, can select to have purchases debited from a prepaid amount they add to their phone.
Apple has yet to make an official announcement in this regards, but Telefonica has confirmed to TechCrunch that O2 has indeed started to quietly roll out this feature across Germany. The option should become available to all users within the next week or two.
"Telefónica Germany is working with Apple related to carrier billing," a company spokesperson told TechCrunch in an emailed statement. "Payment via the O2 phone bill is now available for Apple Music, iTunes, App Store and iBooks Store Purchases. The service is gradually being rolled out and will be available for all O2 customers (prepaid and postpaid) in Germany by the beginning of November 2015."
This initial rollout in Germany sparks hopes that Apple could soon to offer carrier billing to a wider extent and more markets are expected to get the feature soon. If the implementation in Germany proves successful, Apple should extend the courtesy to users in the U.S. and other markets worldwide as well, allowing them to pay for their iPurchases through their phone bills.
For now carrier billing is still not an option in the U.S., as the only current solutions are credit cards, iTunes gift cards and PayPal, but it could become available soon.
