Alphabet Inc’s Google said Wednesday it will allow Spotify Technology SA to use its payment system in its Android app as part of a new beta program aimed at addressing app makers’ concerns about high fees and alleged anti-competitive behaviour.
Users who have downloaded Spotify from the Google Play Store will be offered an option to pay either with Spotify’s payment system or with Google Play billing in some countries in the coming months.
The beta will allow a small number of participating developers, starting with Spotify, to offer an additional billing option next to the Google Play billing system in their apps.
“This beta will help us increase our understanding of whether and how user choice billing works for users in different countries and for developers of different sizes and categories,” Google said in a blog post.
Under South Korea’s new competition law last year, Google also said it would allow developers to introduce a second payment system alongside its own there. Spotify said its experience with Google was part of a “multi-year agreement,” without going into details.
App developers like Spotify who sell digital goods have complained for years about having to use the official payment systems of the Play Store and Apple Inc.’s app store.
Google and Apple collect up to 30% of each payment as a fee, which the developers say is too high. Both have reduced fees in many circumstances and say they are necessary to fund a safe and secure mobile ecosystem. Google has not specified what fees it will collect in the new beta.
The company is ramping up enforcement of Google Play billing requirements, and said incompatible apps can be blocked from posting updates starting Friday.
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