Payment processing and your revenue

Mozilla has worked with partners to create a system that is easy for both you and end users to navigate. Mozilla connects you with Bango and Boku to offer credit cards to a global audience and the convenience of direct carrier billing in a growing number of markets. Mozilla currently supports 14 local currencies through credit cards and has Direct Carrier Billing in 6 countries. The countries that aren't supported by local currency billing have credit card billing in USD available.

Overview

Each paid app listed in the Firefox Marketplace and all in-app products are sold by a payment provider, who is the merchant of record and is responsible for processing the transaction, collecting sales taxes and value added taxes (VAT), ensuring compliance with local consumer regulations, disbursing funds, processing refunds, and performing other duties of a merchant. Mozilla is providing the venue where the buyers (app users) and sellers (app developers) come together, but is not a party to the transactions. Bango and Boku are the payment provider for Firefox Marketplace.

A payment processor handles the transaction between the buyer (app user) and seller (app developer), including matters such as credit card processing. Payment processors typically charge a fee for each transaction for providing this service. You need to create an account with each payment processor through the Firefox Marketplace Developer Hub.

In order to support the operation of the Firefox Marketplace, improve our apps platform, and advance our mission, Mozilla and its partners take a share of each transaction and pays the entire transaction fee out of its share. Currently, you keep 70% of each app purchase or in-app purchase that uses the Marketplace (after VAT and fees, which are included in the end user price). Mozilla and its partners receive 30%.

The Firefox Marketplace aims to support as many countries, languages, and currencies as possible. We would like to be able to support a localized version of the Marketplace and allow payments to be made to and from every country.

Your revenue

This section provides more details on how your revenue is determined and paid to you.

How is the revenue split determined?

When you set up your payment account as a developer, you choose a currency to get paid in. Currencies supported for payout include US dollars ($), euros (€), and Great Britain pounds (£). For a tax-inclusive price, as a general rule you will receive 60% to 70% of the amount the end user pays for your app, after taxes and certain fees are deducted. For a tax-exclusive price, you will receive about 60% to 70% of the end user price in the price table (because the tax will be added to the end user's payment). Due to currency fluctuations and the differences in VAT rates, the exact amount may vary by region.

Bango's payout rate is at 70% for their carriers as well as credit cards. Boku has a payout rate of 60% for their carriers.

The remaining 30% (Bango) or 40% (Boku) is split between Mozilla, the mobile operator, and the payment provider. It includes transaction fees and service charges that may be associated with commercial transaction processing. Mozilla receives between 5% and 7.5%, depending on the arrangements that have been made.

Getting paid: setting up a payment account

Before you can charge for your app or accept in-app payments, you must first set up an account with a payment provider that is providing payment services in the region or countries where you've selected to distribute your app. Each payment provider may have their own terms of service, independent of Mozilla's terms of service, and you may need to agree to their terms in order to sell your apps in the Firefox Marketplace or use Firefox Marketplace for in-app payments.

You can set up a payment account in your developer account in the Firefox Marketplace. Go to the Compatibility & Payments section for your app and add a payment account for the regions that you have selected, for more information see Payment Accounts in the app publishing guide.

Receiving your share: getting paid

Once you have completed the setup, you'll have a direct relationship with payment providers, and they will pay you. You'll receive a Self Billing Invoice (SBI) that will itemize the amount you have generated from sales, the amount refunded to customers, and the resulting amount paid to you, including VAT, if you are in a region that requires that you remit VAT.

You can access each payment provider remittance portal through your developer account in Firefox Marketplace. The payment terms and schedule, and the time it takes to settle your account may vary by region due to mobile operator billing schedules and consumer laws affecting refunds. Please review these terms with the payment provider.

Taxes

This section explains how sales taxes are handled.

VAT

Bango and Boku handle VAT remission to local taxing authorities. Each region has different taxes and remittance requirements based on their local laws, and you should consult your accountant or taxing authority for more details. The Self Billing Invoice will invoice Bango based on a pre-VAT price. You may see how this works in the payout tables. If you're located outside an area where VAT is required by the seller, you may be entitled to a refund from the taxing authority and you should consult your accountant.

Withholding taxes and exchange fees

Bango pays out in US dollars ($), euros (€), or Great Britain pounds (£). Boku Pays out in US dollars ($) or euros (€). You can select what you want. Bango and Boku may be required by law to withhold and submit local taxes for you if it's moving the money in order to pay you. The withholding tax rates vary by country, and may be subject to exchange fees. You may also be charged a currency exchange fee of 1.9% to 2.5% when exchanging local currency into US dollars, euros, or Great Britain pounds. We understand this may not be advantageous to all developers and are working on alternative solutions.

See also

• Our App Pricing guide contains more information on what price points are used, and how the pricing works with regards to credit cards, taxes, etc.
• Payments status looks at what countries currently have app payments available in them, what exchange rate is used, and what else you need to be aware of in each region.

Document Tags and Contributors