PALO ALTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Zong (www.Zong.com), the leading mobile payment platform used by online gaming and social networking web sites, announced today that Zong+ has delivered unprecedented payment volumes to its merchants. Zong+, launched at the end of last year, is the only online mobile payment platform to combine carrier billing with the low cost processing of credit, debit, and prepaid cards. Only six weeks after upgrading to Zong+, Aeria Games, one of the fastest growing publishers of free-to-Play online games, reported:

• Over 32% of Aeria’s mobile payment revenue from Zong came from Zong⁺ users;


• Zong⁺ transactions generated an average payout 12 times higher than traditional mobile payments, due to a combination of higher payout rates and flexible price points;


• A massive 67% drop in transaction costs with Zong⁺ over traditional mobile payments;


• A 48% increase in repeat payments—Zong+ users completed an average of 4.3 transactions per month, while regular users completed an average of 2.7 transactions;


• 100% incremental revenue: no cannibalization of existing card or carrier-based payment volumes.

“When we started thinking about Zong+, we were convinced that combining the convenience of carrier-based mobile payments with established payment methods had tremendous potential,” said David Marcus, founder and CEO of Zong. “We're thrilled that these initial results were well above our expectations.”



Additionally, since the beginning of 2010, Zong has grown by over 20 major publishers, including IAC’s Mindspark, Playdom, Slide, Kongregate, and TrialPay. Through its wide merchant distribution, Zong’s reach has surpassed over 500 million online users, while its carrier distribution just reached 1.5 billion mobile subscribers.



“The impulse nature of in-game purchases, prompted us to find the most convenient and efficient payment method for our users,” said Jim Greer, CEO of Kongregate. “Zong provides a fantastic user-experience and reach for our members to purchase our virtual currency, Kreds, with the ease and convenience of a ten digit mobile number.”



Also, in the last six weeks, Zong has not only expanded its merchant distribution, but also its country and carrier coverage by adding New Zealand, Argentina, and Venezuela, with Brazil, Indonesia, Singapore, Taiwan, and Malaysia to follow shortly.



About Zong:



ZONG, the leading mobile payment service used by online gaming and social networking web sites, converts shoppers into buyers at rates up to 10 times greater than traditional payment methods. ZONG leverages direct connections with leading mobile network operators around the world to provide unrivaled connectivity and service quality. ZONG works with hundreds of top applications on popular social networks—such as Facebook and MySpace—and powers mobile monetization in leading virtual worlds and gaming sites, such as Gaia Online, IMVU and Aeria Games. In 2009, ZONG processed mobile payments for over 10 million unique users worldwide. In October 2009 ZONG released ZONG+ which combines the high conversion rates of mobile payments with the low costs of payment card networks. ZONG+ received the Frost+Sullivan Best Practices Award for product innovation. For more information, please visit www.zong.com.