Start-Up Seeks to Serve Underserved Market on Payments

DESOTO, Texas – A start-up company offering payment services is targeting unbanked consumers with a product that has been tried in various forms in the past: charging purchases to a phone bill. The company, Etelcharge.com Inc., is targeting consumers who do not carry credit cards or who do not want to use them online. Several payments analysts told the American Banker phone companies and consumers have become accustomed to charging purchases such as ringtones to phone bills in the past few years, but they warned Etelcharge may be aiming at a small pool of potential users, many of whom may have other options. The service is available to AT&T Inc. landline customers in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kansas and Missouri, though the company has not yet announced any deals with merchants to accept the service as a payment option. That announcement is expected this month. The company is expected to expand into other states over the next six months. Users enroll by calling Etelcharge from the phone they want to use for billing to demonstrate they have control of the line and the associated bill. There currently is a spending limit of $60 per month.