Malaysia’s MOL to Provide the Latest Payment Option for Buying Facebook Credits

Having said in April that it plans to add “100 or 200″ payment options worldwide for Credits, Facebook has announced that another one is coming within the next couple of months: MOLPoints.

MOLPoints is a virtual payment service offered by MOL AccessPortal Berhad, part of Malaysia-based internet company MOL Global, and most popular in southeast Asia. The deal makes sense. Facebook has been growing fast in the region over the last year — Indonesia gained the most new users out of any country in the world, last month, with 25.9 million according to our Global Monitor report. Many people in the region have been joining specifically to play third-party social games on the site, so the addition of MOL should make it easier for these users to by Credits then spend the virtual currency on virtual goods in the apps.

Credits can already be purchased directly by credit card, including Visa, American Express, Mastercard, Discover and JCB (a Japan-based international credit card company), or through Paypal or mobile payments provided by Zong. The virtual currency can be earned by participating in offers provided by TrialPay and Peanut Labs. With this deal, MOLPoints can either be used to buy Credits on Facebook or buy them on MOL’s own site.

MOLPoints is itself an intermediary currency that people buy using real money, then use to purchase a variety of other online content and services, including online game subscriptions and Friendster Coins (note that MOL Global bought Friendster last year). It can be purchased using a wide variety of local and international banks, pre-paid cards and mobile providers.

Overall, MOL says the currency can be bought through more than 540,000 physical payment locations in more than 75 countries, and or through 88 banks in 9 countries. It says it processes more than 60 million transactions for an annual payment volume of $200 million.

We expect Facebook to continue expanding to more regional payments partners to help it make money from its international user base, even as it signs up more developers to exclusive contracts and experimental trials. While developers are unhappy about the 30% fee that Facebook takes out of purchases (and other costs), new payment options like MOLPoints could help more developers start seeing new revenue from the currency.

Inside Social Apps

Mediabistro Event

Facebook Joins Inside Social Apps Event

In the past few weeks, we’ve added industry insiders from Facebook, Chartboost, Tango, Tilting Point, PlayHaven, Paltalk, and more to the speaking roster of Inside Social Apps, June 6-7 in San Francisco. You’ll learn strategies for success with experts like Deb Liu, Product Manager at Facebook. Register now and save $200. 

Leave a Reply

2 Responses to “Malaysia’s MOL to Provide the Latest Payment Option for Buying Facebook Credits”

  1. Social Gaming Roundup: Snoop Dog, China, Chrome, & More says:

    [...] – Though the Malaysian payments company has been working more with virtual currency such as Facebook Credits, the social networking site is taking even more steps into social gaming. According to [...]

  2. Facebook VP on Facebook Credits « deshazer.me isn't a virus says:

    [...] Sidenote: Facebook has been “testing” Credits out in Malaysia with with partner, MOL [...]

interested in advertising with inside facebook?

Social Media Jobs
of the Day

Software Engineer Job

Boston Globe Electr Publ Inc.
Boston, MA

Advanced Developer/Programmer

Agora, Inc.
Baltimore, MD

Social Media Director

Ovation
Santa Monica, CA

Featured Company

Join leading companies like this one and recruit from the nation's top media job seekers on the Mediabistro Job Board. Every job post comes with our satisfaction guarantee. Learn More
 

Our Sponsors

Also from Inside Network:   AppData - Facebook & iOS Application Stats   PageData - Engagement Data on Facebook Pages   Facebook Marketing Bible   Inside Network Research
WebMediaBrands
Mediabistro | SemanticWeb | Inside Network
Jobs | Education | Research | Events | News
Advertise | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy
Copyright 2012 WebMediaBrands Inc. All rights reserved.