Consumers Union: T-Mobile carrier billing could leave users 'vulnerable'

Consumers Union, the nonprofit publisher of Consumer Reports, is expressing concern that new digital content billing solutions introduced last week by T-Mobile USA could leave subscribers vulnerable to fraud or merchant mistakes.

T-Mobile USA's Direct Carrier Billing initiative allows subscribers to purchase digital goods--including games, virtual credits, music and videos--directly via web-enabled devices like smartphones, tablets, netbooks and PCs, charging all purchases to their monthly wireless bill without manually entering credit card information. T-Mobile USA and billing service partners BilltoMobile, Boku, OpenMarket, Payfone and Zong have vowed to monitor all transactions, offering fraud controls, age-appropriate content blocking and spending limit management tools while promising a two-step customer authentication and purchase verification process.

According to Consumers Union, charges that appear directly on wireless bills do not enjoy the same statutory protections that cover credit card or debit card purchases. " If the mobile payment charge appears on the customer's cell phone bill, the product might escape consumer protections entirely unless the contract provides them," the nonprofit said in a statement. "Consumers Union's review of T-Mobile's current customer contract found that those protections were lacking."

Consumers Union adds that earlier this year, it called on T-Mobile USA and other operators to institute stronger consumer protections in their service contracts. "At the time, a T-Mobile representative indicated that the carrier would respond to the request but no response has been received by Consumers Union," the group stated.

For more:
- read this release

Related articles:
T-Mobile USA expands carrier billing to digital purchases
T-Mobile USA adds carrier billing to Android Market
T-Mobile USA kicks off 4G PayDay SMS trivia challenge
T-Mobile launches mobile ad initiative with Android app
WildTangent, T-Mobile USA team for Android game rental service