MACH has announced that all of the UK’s major mobile operators are rolling out its direct operator billing service.

Vodafone, Everything Everywhere and Three have signed up, while the vendor said it was “working with O2 as it rolls out its new Charge to Mobile platform”.

Earlier this month, MACH announced that OTT provider Skype had also purchased the service.

The vendor claims it will boost revenues for both merchants and operators when compared with premium SMS, WAP billing and credit cards.

“There is little doubting that apps and online content that can be charged direct to your bill represents an important revenue stream for us and our partners,” commented Danny Barclay, head of interactive sales at O2.

The service includes support from Payforit, the UK-mobile payments service launched by the same four operators.

MACH’s Michael De Jongh said the inclusion of Payforit will “accelerate the monetization of services for developers whilst ensuring consumer confidence in what they are buying.”

Rory Maguire, head of payment services at Three, agrees.

“We believe this slick and easy payment method … will overtake the credit card or voucher payment methods that are hostile to a small screen,” he said.

According to MACH, app stores and content providers would benefit by avoiding the need to set up individual agreements with UK operators.

“With the UK very close to full availability of direct mobile operator billing for consumers of online and app purchases, we are now one of the leading geographies in the world for the presentation of a quick and easy payment method for the burgeoning smartphone user base,” added Maguire.