UK micropayments market and regulation review

The problem

To support its regulation of the UK premium-rate services market, PhonepayPlus sought a comprehensive review of the purchase journeys and protection available to consumers making purchases of low-value digital goods (such as mobile games).

The solution

Analysys Mason undertook 17 different consumer purchase journeys, making micropayments across different platforms and for different content types. In each completed journey, we looked for areas of consumer risk relating primarily to the information transparency, clarity of terms and conditions, contact information of the provider and user verification controls.

We also completed a series of stakeholder interviews with a number of service and content providers to inform market and regulatory knowledge and understanding.

The result

Analysys Mason was able to provide PhonepayPlus with a view on the current and future market for micropayments for digital goods and services, an appraisal of consumer journeys using micropayments and any established and potential regulatory frameworks.

Results were provided in a comprehensive report that examined the market for micropayments from the consumer, regulatory, industry stakeholder perspectives and included recommendations for improving consumer protections and controls.

We presented our finding to the board of PhonepayPlus, providing a review of the established patchwork of regulatory protections and a discussion of the completed consumer journeys and related risks, which would serve to help shape the regulator's field of work.

The team

The project was conducted by consultants from Analysys Mason's Custom Research team.