The identity v top up payment channel officially covered by NetEase has 87 countries across the globe. Statistics in 2023 indicate that Apple App Store and Google Play represent 52% (wherein the median single order for iOS users is $12 and Android is $9.5). Local payment channels such as Southeast Asian 7-Eleven convenience store cash top-up (Codashop partner channel) account for 31% of the local payments, with a single transaction value of 15 US dollars and an arrival rate of 98% (time cost ≤5 minutes). Turkish players can top up through the phone bill deduction function of mobile operator Turkcell, with a handling fee of only 1.2%. However, due to the devaluation of the lira (the exchange rate dropped by 44% in 2023), the actual echo acquisition volume decreased by 19% year-on-year (data source: NetEase Games Regional Operation Report).
Overseas, credit cards and e-wallets are mainstream. The average handling fee rate of Visa/MasterCard cross-border transactions is 3.5%. Added to the exchange rate loss (approximately 2.3%), the actual cost is 5.8% higher than the labeled price. In comparison, Alipay HK has launched a “game-exclusive exchange rate” for users in Hong Kong and Macao. Recharge of 1,000 Hong Kong dollars (approximately 128 US dollars) can reduce 6.7% of exchange rate losses, and the success rate of fund arrival is 99.2% (data source: Ant Group’s 2023 Payment White Paper). But be cautious of gray and black industry channels – In 2022, Vietnam’s “EchoDeals” platform cloned the interface of Alipay, scammed users out of top-ups, and then absconded with the funds. The sum of money involved exceeded 2 million US dollars, and the account freezing rate of the victims was 100% (Ministry of Public Security of Vietnam).
The regional cooperation platform provides localized solutions. Japanese customers who recharge WebMoney through the DMM platform can enjoy a 5% cashback in points (which can be exchanged for limited skins), but as Japan’s consumption tax has been increased to 10%, the actual discount in 2023 has fallen to 3.8%. After the Brazilian government forced the use of the Pix instant payment system, NetEase connected with this channel. The transaction fee was reduced from 6% for credit cards to 0.8%, and the arrival time was reduced from 3 minutes to 15 seconds, driving a 41% increase in recharge transaction volume in the Brazilian market in Q4 2023 (data source: Payment Report of the Central Bank of Brazil). However, the risk of illegal cross-region operations is genuine: Argentinean players utilized a VPN to conceal their Spanish IP addresses for top-ups and took advantage of the eurozone pricing (0.009 US dollars per echo) for arbitrage, triggering NetEase’s geofencing system (triple confirmation of IP, device time zone, and payment card BIN code). More than 84,000 accounts were banned in 2023 alone (data source: NetEase Risk Control log).
Operator phone bill payment through mobile has been common in developing countries. Indonesian customers who recharge 100,000 Indonesian rupiah (equivalent to 6.4 US dollars) through the Telkomsel operator can receive an additional 8% Echo reward, but the operator charges a 15% service fee. The net discount rate is -3.2%. Indian customers of Reliance Jio can enjoy zero handling charges through UPI payment. Its single order peak processing capacity is 4,500 TPS (transactions per second), driving a 67% year-on-year growth in the volume of recharge users in the India region in 2023 (Data source: NPCI Annual Report). However, there are “black card” recharges by certain third-party platforms that offer sham discounts. For instance, in the 2023 “Load2Echo” case in the Philippines, a criminal organization diverted funds in prepaid mobile phone accounts and resold Echo at 75% of the market price, which resulted in the deactivation of 13,000 accounts (investigated by the National Telecommunications Commission of the Philippines).
Emerging payment technologies are reshaping the ecosystem. In 2024, NetEase tested the blockchain payment system, achieving real-time settlement of identity v top up through smart contracts (shortening the cycle from 72 hours of traditional payment to 22 seconds), and opened TrueMoney cryptocurrency recharge pilot in Thailand. However, under regulatory restrictions, the service handling fee amounted to up to 8.7%. The user acceptance rate is only 12% (Data source: Payment Behavior Research of Bangkok University). Traditional bank transfers still dominate certain markets: Russian players recharge through Sberbank, despite the fact that it can take them six hours. However, due to bypassing Visa/MasterCard sanctions, its usage rate increased by 29% in 2023 against the trend (data source: Russian Payment Association).
For safe payment advice, the account suspension rate through official channels is only 0.3%, while the infringement rate through non-official channels is as high as 18% (NetEase’s account suspension statistics in 2023). Players must give priority to choosing the PCI-DSS certification channel (reducing the risk of data leakage by 97%), and should not easily believe social media advertisements. In the “60% off Echo” scam on local Kuaishou platform in 2023, a fraudulent wechat payment page cheated user information, with a highest daily loss of 850,000 yuan (case notice from Jiangsu Cyber Police). Compliant recharges not only ensure the safety of funds (with an official complaint resolution rate of 96%), but also ensure the continuous receiving of game update benefits (for example, the limited skin for 2024 needs to be unlocked by accumulating compliant recharges of at least 200 US dollars).