New MEF data reveals carrier billing accounts for over 10% of Europe's digital revenue

Europeans spent US$14 Billion via carrier billing in 2025 as industry searches for its next growth engine.

New MEF market data reveals carrier billing accounts for more than 10% of Europe's digital goods and services revenue, while industry leaders gather in Amsterdam to address the sector's next chapter.

Europeans purchased US$14 billion worth of goods and services through carrier billing in 2025, according to new market-sizing data from the Mobile Ecosystem Forum (MEF), highlighting both the continued importance of telco-enabled payments and the growing pressure on the industry to find new sources of growth.

The figures, drawn from MEF's forthcoming Payments & Commerce market-sizing dataset, show that European consumers continue to embrace carrier billing, whether through Direct Carrier Billing (DCB) and Premium SMS (PSMS) payments, adding subscriptions to their mobile tariff plans, or purchasing operator bundles that include digital services such as video streaming and other subscription products.

Of the total US$14 billion spent through carrier billing in Europe during 2025:

US$5 billion came from DCB and PSMS transactions;

US$8.8 billion came from tariff add-ons and bundled subscriptions;

Revenue from subscription-based add-ons and bundling has grown twice as fast as merchant-implemented DCB payments over the past seven years.

The findings suggest a significant shift in how carrier billing is evolving. While DCB remains an important payment option for digital merchants, much of the sector's recent momentum is being driven by subscription services and carrier-led bundling strategies.

Despite representing only a small fraction of Europe's overall payments market, carrier billing punches above its weight in digital commerce. MEF estimates that just over 10% of digital goods and services revenue in Europe in 2025 was derived from carrier billing, making it a strategically important payment channel for many digital content providers.

In key verticals such as video streaming, carrier billing has become the third-largest payment method, behind only payment cards and digital wallets.

However, the research also points to mounting challenges for traditional DCB business models. DCB and PSMS account for less than 0.11% of total online consumer payments volume across all goods and services, underscoring the intense competition from alternative payment methods.

The payments ecosystem is becoming increasingly crowded, with consumers and merchants able to choose from a growing range of digital wallets, account-to-account payments, Buy Now Pay Later solutions and other alternatives. At the same time, regulatory requirements across Europe continue to increase, while merchants are becoming more demanding on both commercial and technical performance.

Industry stakeholders are also closely monitoring the future of app-based commerce, where Google Play and Apple's App Store have historically been major drivers of DCB revenues. Any shift in app distribution models could create both risks and opportunities for carrier billing providers.

As a result, the industry is actively exploring new growth opportunities. These include expansion into physical goods and services, deeper integration with emerging app distribution channels, new app-centric commerce experiences, conversational commerce delivered through Rich Communication Services (RCS), and greater investment in subscription-based business models that offer merchants higher retention rates.

The future of carrier billing, mobile payments, regulation, subscriptions, digital content and telco-enabled commerce will be among the key topics discussed at the Global Carrier Billing & Mobile Payments Summit 2026, taking place in Amsterdam on 29-30 September 2026. Organised by MEF and Informa Tech, the event brings together mobile operators, payment providers, merchants, regulators and technology companies from across Europe, the Middle East and Africa to examine the opportunities and challenges shaping the next generation of mobile payments.

"The data shows that carrier billing remains a significant force in Europe's digital economy, but it also highlights an industry at an inflection point," said Dario Betti, CEO of MEF.

"The strongest growth is now coming from subscription bundling and operator-led digital services. The challenge for the industry is to create the next wave of opportunities that can extend carrier billing beyond its traditional strongholds and unlock new revenue streams for operators, merchants and technology providers."

The Global Carrier Billing & Mobile Payments Summit will feature discussions on emerging payment models, regulatory developments, digital content monetisation, subscription growth strategies, carrier partnerships, mobile commerce innovation and the evolving role of telcos in digital ecosystems.