Mobile billing and payment platform provider SmartTrans reported that its subscriber base in China increased 50 per cent to six million over the past three months and that its SmartPay platform processed 1.2 million payments in October.

More than 40 per cent of customers billed last month were subscription-based users who pay a monthly fee for content and typically continue to generate future monthly revenue, the company said.

SmartTrans, which is listed on the Australian Stock Exchange, is authorised to conduct direct-to-phone-billing via the major Chinese mobile operators and can also facilitate payments via internet banking and major e-commerce payment platforms such as Alipay.

The strong customer growth, SmartTrans MD Bryan Carr said, is driving its revenue streams and broadening the appeal of its SmartPay offering for both foreign and domestic companies looking to promote and sell to an expanding audience of consumers.

Carr added that it is assessing ways to monetise the data gathered from SmartPay, potentially creating another source of revenue.

“We continue to gather analytical data from SmartPay on consumer spending habits and trends that is sought by marketers, advertisers, and consumer goods and services companies. This proprietary data is a potential source of significant unlocked revenue for SmartTrans,” he said.