Microsoft wants to lead the world of micropayments

Posted Jan 29, 2007 at 1:10AM by QJ Staff Listed in: Xbox 360, PC Gaming Tags: Bill Gates, Credit Card, Dow Jones, Microsoft, Microsoft Points, PayPal
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Cha-Ching! - Image 1Well, we know microtransactions are here to stay, especially with the rise of point-payment schemes within the public consciousness. Now that all three consoles are out and micropayment transactions are more or less common knowledge to anyone tech-savvy, you can expect that Microsoft wants to get in on the action.

In fact, they intend to do so by building their own brand of micropayment service, one which Bill Gates thinks could stand on top of the world of micropayments.

During the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Bill Gates was looking into ways to make micropayments even more viable online. The DOW Jones Newswire mentions that Gates said,

If you want to charge somebody US$ 0.10 or US$ 1 a month, that will just be a click... you won't have to manage some funny thing or pay some big credit charge, where half of it goes to the clearing.


To do that, credit card fees have to be undercut, a feat that basically asks credit card companies to make a lot less money.

Ars Technica notes a couple of possibilities that Microsoft could take. For starters, they could expand upon the current notion of Microsoft Points, letting people buy as many points as they need to acquire a particular item they want. On the other hand, they could also try to beat out credit card companies and PayPal by making their own real-money service that intends to beat PayPal at their game. All in all, if Gates can pull it off successfully, you can expect a different way of paying for your games in the next few years, and perhaps, even your groceries.

 
 
 

Comments

by - 2007-01-29 17:49:11
well then

Sure some people on this site are crying over a $2 extra on the VC for old games. Yet they fail to realize that MS is going to be the main ones for squeazing every little penny possible out of you guys. They said it right here. You are probably mad at EA for some of there microtransactions for some stupid stuff but remember MS okay'd them for they get a chunk of that change too. So there you go once again Nintendo is not your enemy so to speak they're just trying to get by. Unlike our powerful yet very successfull MS crew who gave us the 360 the money burner ^^

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