1.10.5 IMTU - International Mobile Top UP
- Tomasz Kozierowski
- Piotr Mrozek
International Mobile Top Up (IMTU) is a service that allows topping up GSM subscribers accounts. A client can credit someone else’s GSM service account by providing that person phone number.
The IMTU is implemented through an integration with 3rd party IMTU providers. At the moment supported are:
- Transfer to
- IDT
Other providers can be added on request.
The IMTU feature is added to the mobile softphones and to the VUP. The service’s configuration and management is available through VSM Settings/Mobile TopUp menu.
Transaction flow
The flow is based on the integration with TransferTo.
A client enters the destination phone number and presses submit button. The onlineshop sends request to the IMTU provider which looks up if the number is supported and if so returns the following information:
- Destination country
- Destination network name
The onlineshop retrieves from the database the top up amounts available for the destination GSM network and the associated sell rates, defined by you as a provider.
In the IMTU web form the client is presented with two sets of amounts:
- Top up amounts – the money which will be credited to the destination phone
- Sell rates – the rate which will be deducted from the client’s balance
For example:
The client pays $5 and the destination phone gets $4.
The difference is split between you and the IMTU provider. For each top up amount there is also the cost rate from the IMTU provider, i.e. the money which you pay to the provider and which are deducted from your account balance you have at the IMTU provider.
The diagram below shows the flow between all parties in the example with TransferTo as the IMTU provider.
The amounts are:
- X – the top up amount which is added to the destination phone number account
- R – the sell rate offered by provider (you, in this case), deducted from the account of the client who is making the transfer
- C – the cost rate at which the IMTU provider charges you for sending X to the phone number; deducted from the account which you have with the TransferTo
Suppliers
The IMTU providers are defined in the Settings/Mobile top up/Suppliers menu. For each of them you need to specify the credentials used in communication with their APIs, the transaction currency and optionally the notification text which is sent to the transferee.
GSM networks – operators
The list of supported GSM networks (operators) whose numbers can be credited through IMTU, depend on the particular provider. In voipswitch platform you can create a routing table defining which networks are served by given provider.
In order to assign networks to provider go to the Suppliers menu, select a provider, then click on More button and choose the Assign operators action.
For TransferTo the implementation makes use of the provider’s API which returns the list of supported networks. After going through a short wizard the list of networks will be populated. To see the list go to the Settings/Mobile top up/Operators menu.
In the edit panel you can remove current assignment and add another provider that supports this network. You can do it manually even for the operators imported automatically through TransferTo. It is because the operators are identified by their unique operator code which is common for all IMTU providers.
Top up amounts
The Settings/Mobile top up/Amounts menu shows the list of transfer amounts and their sell and cost rates defined for each network. The rates should be set on the IMTU provider’s panel. In the VSM you can only import the list but cannot modify the rates.
- Product amount - the actual amount which will be added to the recipient’s balance. It is shown in the destination local currency.
- Client amount - the selling rate, the price paid by the client making transfer.
- Agent amount - the cost paid to the IMTU operator for the transfer.
Logs
All mobile transfers are recorded in the database in the mtu_transaction table. The transactions can be browsed from Logs/Mobile top up/Transactions menu.
