Virtual Piggy Opening Up to Installed Payments

• Virtual Piggy announces the expansion of its e-payment platform to support monthly subscriptions. Younger users can now purchase subscriptions in-games and other online digital goods through their Virtual Piggy accounts.

• The general presence of online subscription-based models in digital sales accounts for this initiative, as Virtual Piggy reminds that subscriptions accounted for roughly 1.6 billion dollars for online (social) games and 6.5 billion in the music industry in 2011.

• One of the first players to adopt the new payment method, teen’s entertainment specialist Fanlala gathers over 34 million potential users.

• Virtual Piggy now proposes micro-payments and subscriptions, both especially adapted to the online context. Parents remain in control of spending limits and time periods for subscription fees; they are notified every time a payment is made.

Source: Virtual Piggy’s press release

• Founded in 2008, Moogle launched Virtual Piggy in the beginning of 2011 (see January 2011 Insight) and changed name in September 2011. This start-up was the first to focus on a solution specifically designed for under-18 users, relying on parental approval and their defining and controlling spending limits.

• Since then, it has been working on various partnership agreements (with YuuZoo and Kidlandia last April, for example) and has been extending the scope of its offer, here again enhanced by the addition of an installed payment option.

• In February, Virtual Piggy also launched an iOS app displaying its interest in the mobile channel and catering for the development of an already thorough online service. The specialist aims at reaching the largest possible number of people, without failing to comply with the relevant legal requirements, as it reminds that youngsters ages 8 to 18 do have an overall cumulated purchasing power of 50 billion dollars per year.