Business Wire

DING

27.1.2021 12:12:04 CET | Business Wire | Press release

Share
Phones, Payments and the Pandemic: Covid’s Impact on How We Communicate and Spend Money

The release of the Inaugural Ding Global Prepaid Index (GPI) has produced unexpected findings of an untapped market with high growth potential that has been accelerated by the Covid-19 pandemic. This bi-annual global study commissioned by Ding , the world’s largest mobile top-up service, examines the views of 7,000 respondents across the US, the UK, France, KSA, UAE, Qatar, Brazil, Indonesia, and the Philippines, regarding their engagement in the prepaid market and their attitudes towards it. The prepaid market is defined as people who use prepaid mobile billing; prepaid financial products such as prepaid credit cards; prepaid utility bill payment, or prepaid gift cards / vouchers.

Market Intelligence - what the report tells us

This report is telling: 79% of respondents use at least one prepaid service, while 45% use two or more; prepay is seen as a more flexible way to engage the services they need and want rather than bill pay (or postpay) options. Prepaid mobile bills account for the highest usage (61%), followed by prepaid utility bills (31%), prepaid vouchers and gift cards (19%) and prepaid financial products such as a prepaid visa card (17%).

While many assume that the prepaid market primarily serves those in a lower income bracket, the study has revealed that a high number across all income brackets engage in prepaid services. In fact, higher-income earners use prepaid products most, with 84% of respondents in this bracket stating they use prepaid services. This result is relatively high across the board, with 78% of low-income earners using prepaid services as do 79% of medium-income earners.

“The Global Prepaid Index has revealed the enormous market potential for prepaid products,” said Mark Roden, Chief Executive and Founder of Ding. “Our research shows that prepaid products attract all walks of life, with many people engaging by choice rather than out of necessity. In an era where we can use technology to provide better transparency and control over our finances, as well as to use it to quickly access services, it is no surprise that people are willing to have their electricity or mobile phone service cut off for example because, in minutes, they can just top it up again.”

Market Opportunity

“Today we see a business opportunity to cater to the prepaid market more than ever,” said Roden. “The Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated this trend not only due to financial uncertainty but also with many unable to see their loved ones in person due to social distancing and restrictions on international travel. Even on our own platform, we have seen close to a 50% annual uptick in prepaid transactions during 2020, with customers prioritising keeping in contact by either topping up their own phones or sending airtime to others.”

*** Ends ***

About the Ding Global Prepaid Index (GPI)

The Ding Global Prepaid Index (GPI) is a major bi-annual survey analysing the prepaid market.

The inaugural GPI shines a light on the people who may see prepaid products and services as their only option to live in the world today. 7,000 respondents were surveyed across Europe, Asia and the Americas regarding their use of prepaid offerings, examining the attitudes, activities and outlook of the forgotten billion in particular during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Those surveyed were evenly distributed across gender and aged over 18, 30 percent of the sample also identified as expats.

About Ding

Ding was founded to improve people’s lives by helping those with less gain access to more. As the number one international mobile top-up service in the world, Ding has been keeping people connected since 2006, when it launched this first-of-a-kind service. Today, Ding’s users have successfully sent over 450 million top-ups globally, via the app, online at Ding.com, and in-store at over 600,000+ retail outlets worldwide.

Ding is the world’s leading universal top-up service. Ding delivers a top-up every second, via 550+ operators, across 140+ countries – helping families and friends around the world to stay connected.

Link:

ClickThru

About Business Wire

Business Wire
Business Wire
101 California Street, 20th Floor
CA 94111 San Francisco

http://businesswire.com

Subscribe to releases from Business Wire

Subscribe to all the latest releases from Business Wire by registering your e-mail address below. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Latest releases from Business Wire

Airgain Expands Public Safety and Utility Connectivity Portfolio with FirstNet, Built with AT&T2.6.2026 22:15:00 CEST | Press release

Expanded AirgainConnect® portfolio includes FirstNet Trusted™ and HPUE solutions supporting first responders, utilities and critical field operations. Airgain, Inc. (NASDAQ: AIRG), a leading provider of advanced wireless connectivity solutions, today announced the continued expansion of its mission-critical connectivity portfolio with FirstNet®, Built with AT&T – America’s public safety network – to support reliable, high-performance communications for public safety agencies, utilities and field operations across the United States. Growing its public safety connectivity capabilities, Airgain recently added the MegaFi 2™ and MegaGo 2™ to its portfolio. As FirstNet MegaRange™ solutions, which use High Power User Equipment (HPUE) technology, the two routers transmit with 6x the power exclusively on Band 14, nationwide, high-quality spectrum set aside by the government for public safety on FirstNet. This helps support reliable communications in remote areas and through signal-blocking mate

Fi Expands International Footprint to 38 Countries Worldwide2.6.2026 19:25:00 CEST | Press release

Series 3+ and Mini are now available to pet owners across new European markets Fi, the leader in smart pet technology, today announced a major international expansion, bringing its AI-powered GPS pet wearables and connectivity network to 38 countries across North America and Europe. Fi devices are now available for purchase in 29 markets, including newly added countries such as Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands, Romania, Slovakia, and Latvia. Through Fi's international connectivity network, customers can also use Fi in Switzerland, Norway, Liechtenstein, Iceland, and Turkey, bringing Fi's total coverage footprint to 38 countries. The expansion reflects growing demand from pet owners who want reliable connectivity and health insights, whether they're at home or traveling abroad. "Wherever your pet roams, Fi should work," said Jonathan Bensamoun, Founder and CEO of Fi. "As more pet owners travel internationally and expect seamless connectivity, we're expanding F

XFolio AI Acquires Absolute Payment Solutions to Unify Treasury and Payments for UK Corporates2.6.2026 19:16:00 CEST | Press release

XFolio AI (xfolio.ai), a Paris-based treasury and cash management technology group, has acquired Absolute Payment Solutions (APS) (https://www.absolutepayments.com/), one of a select number of Pay.UK-accredited Bacs service providers in the UK. This acquisition creates an integrated platform spanning Bacs and all payment types, open banking, risk management, and treasury—giving UK corporates of all sizes the tools to manage cash and execute payments in one place. APS’s Bacs accreditation underpins payment services relied upon daily by organisations across both the public and private sectors, from SMEs running payroll and direct debit collections to large corporates processing high-volume payment flows. While enterprise payment platforms often demand significant scale and budget, and lighter solutions trade capability for speed of setup, APS and XFolio together deliver accredited Bacs infrastructure combined with advanced treasury intelligence across SWIFT, API, H2H, and EBICS rails—wit

Amazfit Introduces a New Era of Hybrid Training with Balance 3 and Balance Ultra2.6.2026 19:00:00 CEST | Press release

The new Balance series powers Amazfit’s Hybrid Training System, combining advanced smartwatch hardware with Zepp App intelligence to help athletes train with structure across strength, endurance, recovery, and daily life Amazfit, a leading global smart wearable brand owned by Zepp Health, today unveiled the Amazfit Balance 3 and Amazfit Balance Ultra, the newest additions to the Balance series and the hero watches for Amazfit’s new Hybrid Training System, connecting performance tracking with intelligent training guidance through the Zepp App. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260602329170/en/ Built around how modern athletes train today, Balance 3 and Balance Ultra are designed for people balancing strength, endurance, recovery, work, stress, and daily life. The devices serve as the engine layer of the connected Hybrid Training ecosystem, capturing how users train, recover, and respond over time. The products we

Mouser's Rise of the Robots Program Explores Humanoid Design Considerations2.6.2026 17:19:00 CEST | Press release

Mouser Electronics, Inc., the authorized global distributor with the newest electronic components and industrial automation products, today announced the latest installment of its Empowering Innovation Together (EIT) technology series, Rise of the Robots, which explores key technologies behind humanoid robots and their potential for transformation. The series shares how these robots have progressed from simple machinery to critical tools used in caregiving, industrial automation, education, and even in the harshest environments. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260602293561/en/ The latest EIT installment explores the engineering design process, system integration challenges, and the role of legacy infrastructure, safety, and ROI in shaping scalable humanoid robot deployment. While science fiction has long envisioned robots resembling humans, recent advances in sensing, actuation, AI, embedded computing, and pow

In our pressroom you can read all our latest releases, find our press contacts, images, documents and other relevant information about us.

Visit our pressroom
World GlobeA line styled icon from Orion Icon Library.HiddenA line styled icon from Orion Icon Library.Eye