Etelcharge.com acquires digital payments provider

Etelcharge.com, a service that lets online shoppers charge purchases to their phone bills, is acquiring PaymentOne Corp., a digital payment services provider. Details of the transaction were not disclosed.

Etelcharge entered into an agreement to acquire the outstanding equity of Payment One from The Billing Resource, which filed for bankruptcy protection late last year. The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of California approved the acquisition in July.

Under the agreement, Etelcharge will acquire PaymentOne’s employee base and technology. The acquisition creates the foundation for the future growth of Etelcharge.com, says Rob Howe, Etelcharge.com chairman and CEO.

“Upon closing the acquisition, our client list will have grown a hundred-fold overnight, the prospects for new business are at our front door and we are working with the most talented people I have met during my tenure in the field of high technology,” Howe says. “Of equal importance is the transition from a small company generating modest revenue to a company generating $12 million in yearly revenue.”

Founded in 2000, the PaymentOne Carrier Network provides digital merchants a single integration point and direct access to more than 150 million billable consumers across more than 1,000 network operators. Its clients include major online media companies, digital content providers, network operators, mobile providers, broadband providers and Internet services, such as America Online, United Online, NetZero and Time Inc.