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This doesn't seem that hard to get around, with a bunch of $0.99 games and in-app purchases on mobile stores. iTunes did it too with songs, before Spotify took

This doesn't seem that hard to get around, with a bunch of $0.99 games and in-app purchases on mobile stores. iTunes did it too with songs, before Spotify took over. Seems like a simple opportunity for any payment processor middleman to just batch up transactions and run them through the CC processor at the end of the day/week/month. If the middleman doesn't want to, each individual publication can still just tally up your totals and then bill you each month.

DaiPlusPlus 3y ago
The App Stores work-around that by invoicing customers once-per-month for all the accrued IAP microtransactions the user makes. > Seems like a simple opportunity for any payment processor middleman to just batch up transactions and run them through the CC processor at the end of the day/week/month That only works if there's enough independent publishers who agree to band-together and commit to using a single payment processor. I doubt this will happen.
- solardev 3y ago
  Well, or at the end of my comment: > If the middleman doesn't want to, each individual publication can still just tally up your totals and then bill you each month. It seems like a really easy middle ground is to just allow pay-per-article views on mobile, which already have batched microtransactions built in. But even that isn't a thing. I suspect it isn't just a technical/billing issue, but a lack of willingness to pay the desired prices...
  - DaiPlusPlus 3y ago
    > It seems like a really easy middle ground is to just allow pay-per-article views on mobile, which already have batched microtransactions built in. But even that isn't a thing. That would require users to install an app in order to take advantage of IAP (which then means losing 30% of the revenue to Apple or Google). People aren't going to install an app just to view (and pay for) articles on whatever blog-host the writer is using. It is the fate of any (and every) "Viewer app" to turn into a web-browser, and a sub-par one at that.
bonton89 3y ago
I thought batching like this was Patreon's main value add.

DaiPlusPlus 3y ago

The App Stores work-around that by invoicing customers once-per-month for all the accrued IAP microtransactions the user makes. > Seems like a simple opportunity for any payment processor middleman to just batch up transactions and run them through the CC processor at the end of the day/week/month That only works if there's enough independent publishers who agree to band-together and commit to using a single payment processor. I doubt this will happen.

solardev 3y ago
Well, or at the end of my comment: > If the middleman doesn't want to, each individual publication can still just tally up your totals and then bill you each month. It seems like a really easy middle ground is to just allow pay-per-article views on mobile, which already have batched microtransactions built in. But even that isn't a thing. I suspect it isn't just a technical/billing issue, but a lack of willingness to pay the desired prices...
- DaiPlusPlus 3y ago
  > It seems like a really easy middle ground is to just allow pay-per-article views on mobile, which already have batched microtransactions built in. But even that isn't a thing. That would require users to install an app in order to take advantage of IAP (which then means losing 30% of the revenue to Apple or Google). People aren't going to install an app just to view (and pay for) articles on whatever blog-host the writer is using. It is the fate of any (and every) "Viewer app" to turn into a web-browser, and a sub-par one at that.

bonton89 3y ago

I thought batching like this was Patreon's main value add.