MicroPayments Explained
What Are MicroPayments?
Millions of internet users purchase goods and services on the internet every day. Credit and debit card details are flying all over cyberspace as we speak. Therefore it's no wonder that some people are a little dubious about giving their card details online! There are also thousands of internet users who don't even have the opportunity to purchase the goods or services they want on the internet for the simple reason they don't have a credit or debit card! Unlocks.co.uk now provide a solution to both of these problems, MicroPayments! But what are MicroPayments?Have you ever called a premium rate number, or sent a vote to a TV show via SMS text messages? These are both known as MicroPayments. A MicroPayment is a method of paying for goods or services using your home or mobile phone account. We have provided brief details of the main two types of MicroPayment below:
PREMIUM RATE NUMBER MICROPAYMENTS
ALWAYS ASK PERMISSION FROM THE PERSON WHO PAYS THE
TELEPHONE BILL BEFORE DIALLING OUR PREMIUM RATE NUMBER!
TELEPHONE BILL BEFORE DIALLING OUR PREMIUM RATE NUMBER!
With premium rate number MicroPayments, you make a call which will last a certain length of time, and is charged at a specific rate per minute. The total call cost is your payment for the goods or service you require! The per minute charges associated with these numbers are usually only applicable to calls from a United Kingdom BT landline number, and calls from a different landline operator or mobile phones may be charged at a higher rate than advertised. You are advised to check the actual cost with your telephone service provider before calling a premium rate number!
SMS TEXT MESSAGE MICROPAYMENTS
With SMS MicroPayments, you send a specific text message to a 'shortcode'. Shortly after sending you will receive a number of reply messages depending on the cost of goods or service you are purchasing. The standard is £1.50 per message you receive (this is not charged to your phone account until you have received the message). So if for example you order unlocking codes from unlocks.co.uk, you would receive three messages and your mobile phone account will have been charged £4.50, or your pre-pay balance will be reduced by £4.50. You are also charged your networks standard SMS text message rate for sending the message to the short code. Therefore the total cost in our example above would be £4.50 + your networks standard text message rate. The standard text message rate (usually 10p - 12p) would be charged to your phone account upon sending the message to our shortcode, and the remaining £4.50 would be charged to your phone account upon receiving your reply messages!IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR PRE-PAY CUSTOMERS
If you are a pre-pay customer, it is important to make sure you have enough credit on your pre-pay balance to cover the cost of your order. MicroPayments via SMS are in increments of £1.50, so the seller can only charge £1.50, £3.00, £4.50...and so on. For each £1.50 in an order, you will receive one reply message. For example if you used SMS MicroPayments to order goods to the value of £6.00, you would receive 4X £1.50 replies. The last of these replies would contain the information you need to complete your order. Therefore if you don't have enough credit on your pre-pay balance, you would not receive the final reply message until there is enough credit to cover the cost!More and more internet users are realizing the benefits associated with MicroPayments. It is an easy alternative to purchasing inexpensive goods or services on the internet, and we believe that our customers will appreciate the choice this new form of payment will give them!
