Ecommerce platform Virtual Piggy integrates online payments into teenage social network Habbo Hotel

Online payments integrated into teenage social network Habbo Hotel with Virtual Piggy

Ecommerce platform company Virtual Piggy has been accepted for safer youth payments across Sulake owned teen community and social network Habbo Hotel.

Based in Hermosa Beach, USA, Virtual Piggy initially launched as a Moggle Inc., product in 2008. Created by co-founders Dr. Jo Webber and Pradeep Ittycheria their goal was to present a safe way for children to conduct transactions online.  Parents set up accounts with then can be assigned parameters and boundaries that children can use and manage.

"When we started Virtual Piggy we knew that a major friction point for payments was in the online gaming space," explains Dr. Jo Webber, CEO and founder of Virtual Piggy. ?We are very excited that the world?s largest online game for teenagers has deployed the Virtual Piggy service. Virtual Piggy provides Habbo Hotel with a parent-approved transaction mechanism for their users and will help age gate the community to ensure players are over 13,? continues Webber.

Sulake (founded by Sampo Karjalainen and Aapo Kyrölä) claims that Habbo Hotel is the world?s largest social game and online community for teenagers, with over 290 million registered characters to date in 150 countries with 90% of users are between 13-18 years old. Launching in 2000, Habbo Hotel claims it has over 10 million unique visitors per month making it one of the largest online teen communities in the world.

?Given Habbo Hotel?s massive membership of teens, Virtual Piggy is a perfect compliment to our rich set of payment methods,? adds Giorgo Paizanis, VP Monetisation at Sulake. "With this frictionless payment option in place, our younger teenage members will be able to safely transact while staying within limits set by their parents," continued Paizanis.

?We are very excited that the world?s largest online game for teenagers has deployed the Virtual Piggy service. Virtual Piggy provides Habbo Hotel with a parent-approved transaction mechanism for their users and will help age gate the community to ensure players are over 13,? concludes Webber.

Virtual Piggy is available online and via mobile and is free to use.


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