Last year, the Sheffield company became the first to take advantage of the new payforIT system, backed by UK mobile phone service providers, which allows people to buy goods securely using their mobiles.

Now, the Creative Industries Quarter business has become the first to extend that service to cover transactions over the Internet.

Initially, the new payforIT online service will be used by mobile 'phone content providers for sales on their online sites, but payforIT is also a perfect mechanism to pay for items such as CDs, DVDs, flowers and books, along with paying for services such as cinema tickets or subscriptions, says Dialogue.

Now, if someone surfing the Internet sees something costing up to £10 that they want to buy, and payforIT is a payment option, they will be able to enter their mobile phone number, instead of their credit card details.

A unique payment code will be sent to their phone as a text message and all they need to do to complete the transaction is enter that code in another box on the web page.

The goods will be sent on and the cost will be debited from their mobile phone account.

Dialogue's managing director, Guiom Peersman, explained: "PayforIT on the internet will work very much in the same way as it does on mobile.

"We are confident that the initiative will grow very rapidly beyond just being used for selling digital content, and online stores will see the value of offering an alternative payment mechanism that draws in new customers, who had previously been unable to make online purchases if they didn't have a bank account or a credit or debit card."

Dialogue says the payforIT framework still needs to evolve but the recent increase of the maximum single transaction value to £10 and the upcoming support for single click purchases should see adoption increase dramatically.

Dialogue is also looking into opportunities to launch similar mobile billing initiatives around the globe, in particular in Australasia where a solution similar to payforIT has already sparked interest in the market.

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