China Mobile, Unicom, Telecom three operators provide honor of kings top up talktime payment channel, but handling fee rate high 15%-20% (compare Alipay 0.6%), example top up 648 RMB coupon actual charge 745-778 RMB. 2023 Q4 data show, mobile carrier channel occupy 3.7% all platform top up, main user tier 3-4 city minor player (ratio 68%), because no need bind bank card single limit 300 RMB (daily total 500 RMB). Example, Henan Mobile launch “Game Express” service, user send SMS “CZ666” to 10086 can top up 60 RMB coupon (actual charge 69 RMB), arrival delay 15-30 minute, fail rate 12%.
Overseas carrier cooperation region difference. Southeast Asia market (example Indonesia Telkomsel) allow talktime balance top up, charge 25% fee monthly limit 2 million IDR (about 900 RMB), 2023 this channel contribute 11% Honor of Kings SEA revenue. Europe carrier (example Germany Telekom) because compliance limit only support credit card bind App Store indirect top up, cannot direct talktime deduct. According Sensor Tower, January 2024 global mobile carrier channel top up success rate only 78%, far lower third-party payment (95%) Apple/Google Store (92%).
Tech limit cause efficiency bottleneck. Carrier payment rely SMS gateway, single transaction need 6-8 data exchange (compare API payment 2 times), peak period (example new skin launch) per second process cap 50k (Tenpay system 870k/second). Example, 2023 “Spring Festival Limited” event period, mobile channel 0:00-0:10 payment fail rate jump 41%, because SMS verify code delay over 60 second trigger timeout. Also, carrier settlement cycle T+3 (third-party real-time), cause refund process need 72+ hour (Alipay instant).
Plan bundle increase user stickiness. China Mobile “M-Zone” user monthly spend ≥88 RMB get 30 RMB coupon, 2023 this benefit attract 2.3 million player open plan, top up conversion rate rise 19%. Indonesia XL Axiata launch “game data pack”, monthly 30 RMB plan include 10GB game data +500 coupons, actual coupon cost drop 0.06 RMB/piece (regular 0.1 RMB/piece). But this plan under minor anti-addiction rule limit, March 2024 require real-name verify daily top up limit 100 RMB.