Charge to Mobile - Now on Apple App Store, Google Play Store & More

[Chris_K]

The smartphone has revolutionised and changed most things we do in our daily lives. With it, you’re a photographer, musician, blogger or gamer; you can do everything with your phone.

If you didn’t know, you can also use it like a bank card. And we’re not talking about contactless payments – that’s so 2017… We’ve got something simpler and even more seamless. Hello, Charge to Mobile.

What is Charge to Mobile?
It’s a mobile payment technology that allows you to make purchases that go directly onto your monthly mobile bill, or come out of your available credit. So if you’re a Pay Monthly customer and your bill comes out on the 1st of the month, anything you buy before then using Charge to Mobile will be bundled into your monthly phone bill, helping you manage your monthly spend a little easier and helping you track your mobile purchases. For our Pay As You Go customers, any purchases made with Charge to Mobile are taken from your available credit.

What can I use Charge to Mobile with?
You can use it to pay for your monthly music subscription, buy games and apps, pay for music, movies or ebooks – all with the benefit of the payments being bundled in with your monthly mobile bill, or coming off your Pay As You Go credit. Here’s a list of places you can use Charge to Mobile:

• On the App Store to buy apps, music, movies, books and more, including Apple Music subscriptions and iCloud storage on iPhone & iPad devices
• On Google Play Store to buy apps, music, movies and more, including Google Play subscriptions on Android devices
• In the Microsoft Store to buy apps, movies and more for your Xbox or Windows device
• Pay for your monthly Spotify subscription
• Buy PS4, PS3 and PS Vita content through the PlayStation store
• Buy games and apps to use on Facebook

How do you setup Charge to Mobile?
It’s super easy. Just follow the instructions below to get up and running, depending on which mobile device you have:

On iPhone:

1. Go to the App Store.
2. Select Account
3. Tap ‘Apple ID’ and sign in.
4. Go to ‘Payment Information’.
5. Select ‘Mobile Phone’.
6. Tap ‘Use This Mobile Number’.

On Android:

1. Choose what you want to buy on Google Play and go to buy.
2. Go to the ‘Payment Methods’ window. It should appear automatically. If not, go back to the window with the ‘Buy’ button and open the dropdown menu by tapping the arrow next to the price.
3. Choose ‘Use O2 Billing’, follow the steps and then enter your details and save as your payment method.

On Microsoft:

1. Go to the Microsoft Store
2. Select the content you want to buy.
3. Select “Mobile Phone” and “O2” as your payment method.
4. Enter your phone number, and the verification code when prompted.

Is Charge to Mobile safe?
Absolutely! We only work with sellers we trust. And we check services to make sure they meet industry standards. Using Charge to Mobile also means that you don’t need to remember or share any bank details, as purchases are billed directly to your Pay Monthly bill or Pay As You Go credit – which you can see via the My O2 app or online.

So, what are you waiting for?
Charge to Mobile gives our customers an easy way to pay for their mobile purchases, from your monthly music subscription on Spotify, to buying games, apps and more on your Apple, Android or Microsoft device. If you’re not already making use of the service, there’s never been a better time to start.

If you've used Charge to Mobile, let us know of any feedback you may have about it – if you had any issues, or if it was an absolute breeze to setup and use – which from our 80%+ satisfaction score, we’re sure it will be. And if you've not used it yet, let us know why

[Anonymous]

Now acquiring banking licences and building appropriate systems to be able to access the incredibly arcane and complicated processes that are involved in becoming a bank acquirer or issuer or or a bank at all,  are beyond the reach of even the largest organisations. The only reliable way of obtaining them is to buy a bank. Which is why most banks in existence are fairly old. However this hasn't stopped organisations like PayPal and Google and Apple  from launching and providing  their own quasi-payment systems, let's call them to QPs. usually  linked to a card account but easily to a bank account. This is because the more payments that you generate the more you can argue that you deserve a proportion of the transaction fees. The banks especially the issuing bank, and the account holders bank are all over this, in terms of the authentication that they require the, the platforms they allow, and much much more. Which in the current climate of Bank Fraud account hacking and other dodgy dealings makes these payment quasi payment systems fairly secure.

Now O2 and the other operators are watching all this with an evil gleam in their eyes, 'if Google Apple and PayPal can do it so can we'  they cry, however instead of going the traditional route and linking cards and bank account directly to the quasi payment systems they want to provide, they decide to cut out the certainty and security of organisations that have been tackling Bank Fraud for generations ie the banks,  Have instead linked up with frankly dodgy third party organisations like 'payforit'  whose sole aim in life is to facilitate 'direct to bill' payments. Or Taptronic whose soul aim in life is to acquire direct to bill payment customers.  '

Or like O2 have launched their own direct to bill payment services,  'that way' they think, 'we get to keep most of the transaction fees' because the banks are only involved tangentially' It's literally a licence to print money.

Now I say tangentially because there has to be a source of funds for these payments, this is the payers credit balance with the operator or in the case of pay as you go, the account balance.  And instead of building systems and processes, to ensure direct to bill transactions are authorised, the operators have left that frankly much more difficult and expensive side to the merchants to manage. And being as many of the merchants are not exactly ethical when it comes to acquiring payment transactions and because all that is needed is a SIM transmission of the payers number, payments are taken willy-nilly and and often without the bill payer having a clue that they are being taken.

It's outrageous and a massive financial scandal waiting to happen.

Now I except that if the Merchant in question is Google or Apple then they have better systems in place to ensure the security of the transactions, but only to the extent but they also rely on the banks systems to check and balance. None of which are available in direct to bill payments as currently being operated.

Meaning these are the most insecure, ramshackle, egregious and frankly dangerous payment systems I have ever come across, in my professional life, and 02 should be ashamed of itself for wanting to be involved.

[Anonymous]

Course you are correct @adamtemp64 that these have little to  do with premium text, mobile short code services, only to the extent that such services might lead to an additional charge to bill element. But franklly premium sevice scams  are minnows when compared to the havoc that could potentially be wreaked if the charge to mobile systems were subject to large scale and systemic 'bank fraud' type attacks. 

Something that O2 head of head of loss prevention might want to consider over his bowl of morning cornflakes!

[Glory1]

Thanks for the information @Chris_K but I'll not be using Charge to Mobile. I prefer to keep my O2 charges and my shopping charges separate.

I rarely go into a shop now, all my shopping is done on line. And I can always check my bank balance through my bank app on my phone, which also provides details of the retailers from whom I made purchases and the respective amounts paid. I find it very easy to manage my money this way.

[Vik1]

Anyone know why I'm been charged 6.99 a month from Microsoft for games yet I don't use my phone number/phone to pay for anything 🤬

[MI5]

@Vik1 

Sounds like a recurring payment set up so speak to Microsoft to find out why.

X Box live is a favourite.

[jonsie]

Definitely a subscription that you need to cancel. Perhaps contact them if you haven't used it.

[Vik1]

I have rang Microsoft and they won't do nothing they have give me a ticket number to call 02 to sort it but they ain't open and can't get through to them x box live I pay in full via card but Microsoft won't cancel nothing 02 has to get in touch with them with the ticket number

[MI5]

Keep trying on 202 but it's very busy right now.