Google expands ‘User Choice Billing’ program to more countries

Image Credits: Google

Google announced that its ‘User Choice Billing’ pilot program has been expanded to Australia, India, Indonesia and Japan to allow more Android developers to offer alternative payment methods in addition to its billing system.

The tech giant first launched the pilot program back in March with Spotify, after the South Korean parliament passed a bill requiring Google and Apple to offer third-party payment systems. In July, it was expanded to the European Economic Area (EEA), which includes Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Republic of Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, and Sweden. 

In addition to the EEA countries, eligible developers in Australia, India, Indonesia and Japan will be able to join the User Choice Billing program beginning September 1, 2022, the company said. 

In order to participate in the program, developers are required to be registered businesses and their apps must be non-gaming mobile or tablet apps. Here are the other requirements

Image Source Play Console Help

Google Play’s service fee will be lowered by 4% when a user chooses an alternative system. The company says that 99% of developers qualify for its reduced 15% fee, so these developers will be charged 11% when their users choose to use alternative payment methods. 

‘’Please note that eligibility and requirements are subject to change and we expect the pilot details to continue to evolve as we learn more and receive additional feedback. ​​Additional pilot requirements, including user experience guidelines, will be shared in the coming weeks. Developers will also be required to switch to our automated APIs once they become available,’’ Google said. 

You can apply for the User Choice Billing program by filling out the declaration form

Written by Jordan Bevan

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