• by Erik Sass , Staff Writer @eriksass1, August 10, 2015

At one point around five years ago, it seemed like micropayments might be the solution to some of the main problems facing traditional media publishers online. Print revenues were falling, most readers were reluctant to pay for news, and if they did have to pay, they wanted a la carte access to specific content.

Micropayments could make all that happen. Except then they didn’t.

It’s safe to say that micropayments have not become the favored model for monetizing online content, for a number of reasons, including awareness (or lack of it), security issues and convenience. U.S. newspapers’ and magazines efforts have been directed toward online paywalls requiring monthly digital subscriptions for Web access and apps. Some services are offering flat-fee, bundled access to multiple publications.

However, micropayments are enjoying a mini-revival, thanks to several new start-ups. One new entrant, iMoneza, which launched its cloud-based service this week, is focused on monetizing premium content for small fees, typically ranging from $0.10 to $0.50. The iMoneza platform allows users to pay for specific pieces of content, when they don’t want to buy a digital subscription, using a digital wallet with a one-click payment system that draws on a pre-paid account, with a minimum amount of $10.

Publishers decide what to charge for different kinds of content, and iMoneza takes a small percentage of each transaction as a commission. There are no other costs to the publisher or consumer. The company makes this approach cost-effective by aggregating credit card fees. The service also enables subscription purchases.

President and CEO Mike Gehl is positioning micropayments as a solution for monetizing mobile content in particular, pointing out that mobile advertising has so far failed to deliver for most publishers.

As noted, this isn’t the only next-generation micropayments service to launch recently. Google is experimenting with a new service, called Contributor, with an intriguing twist. Users can make micropayments to block advertising, by paying the same amount that an advertiser would have paid for a particular piece of inventory. This service also relies on prepayment to reduce credit card fees and transaction costs.