Linden Dollars (Finally) Get Pre-Pay Debit Card (If You're In Southeast Asia)

First Meta Co-founder & COO Aileen Sim (Tyra Fierrens in SL)

Big news from Singapore: First Meta, a virtual financial services provider which offers multiple world currency transactions, recently announced they're offering Linden Dollars via real world debit cards you can buy in physical locations.

"The pre-paid card distributor we've partnered with is MOL.com," First Meta co-founder Aileen Sim (Tyra Fierrens in SL) told me. "They are the leading pre-pay payment provider for online games in Southeast Asia. Users will be able to purchase Linden Dollars and other virtual currencies at retail outlets like 7-Eleven, Popular bookstores (a large chain in this region), comic stores and cyber cafes, as well as via direct bank transfers." At the moment, Second Life Residents in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, India, the Philippines and Australia will be able to buy these cards; on average, a US$10 pre-paid card will get the consumer about L$2050, Aileen tells me. That's a bit less L$ than you'd get through the LindeX, but then, that also means not having to use a credit card to make the purchase.

Why is this so important? Several reasons:

Pre-paid cards are an extremely popular, major revenue source for numerous virtual worlds, not just in Asia, but for extremely popular Western MMOs like Habbo and Gaia Online. If First Meta deploys them successfully, I would not be surprised to see Second Life's usage rates (and spending) increase in Asia. And if they succeed there, it's more likely we'll see pre-paid cards for L$ introduced in Brazil and Europe, where credit cards are also relatively rare -- and consequently, Linden Dollar purchases trail behind the US.

Comments

[Ann Otoole]

They need to just go world wide since LL won't. SL needs some forward thinking business leaders making SL more attractive and mainstream since LL seems to be embarked on a contraction binge designed to drive off the existing businesses and keep only their friends they heavily promote.

In fact I expect LL to ban those 1st Meta pre paid cards forthright just to be backwards thinking, anal, and controlling.

[Nightbird Glineux]

@Ann: They'd probably do it by invoking trademarks.

[Isadora Fiddlesticks]

Coming from an Asian perspective, I think this is a GREAT idea, as many of us who can't or will not use a credit card are hindered from buying things in SL. Personally, I'd use this service even if I can use my credit card, just so I can control my SL spending, as things can easily get out of hand once one starts buying stuff, lol.

This is something that we have long ago expressed as a need, and with it finally possible,I don't think LL will ban it, as it will most definitely improve the economy and encourage people to spend more.

It's actually a good thing that LL didn't get to think about this first...with so many things to do, I think it's best to leave some of the innovation to other people who can focus on giving the best service...then again, I can also see this being acquired by the Lab just like Xstreet.

[aileen sim / tyra fierrens]

Hi Hamlet thanks for posting this.

Btw MOL is available in plenty of other countries too, including most of Europe and South America.

They're essentially a payment aggregator so you can also top up your accounts via other pre-paid cards and payment channels available in these regions.

Here's a full list: http://global.mol.com/global/portal/en/HowTopup.aspx

[aileen sim / tyra fierrens]

(southeast asia just happens to be the one we're focusing marketing efforts on :) )