Enrolling in the external payments program

The external payments program allows developers of Google Play managed apps to lead users in Japan, including through external payment links, to their in-app digital features or services that are available for purchase outside their apps. Developers must meet the below eligibility and requirements, and complete their enrollment in this program prior to promoting external payments. Participating developers are subject to our Payments policy and the applicable service fees described below, which support our investments in Play and Android.

Eligibility

In order to be eligible for this program:

• Your app(s) must:
  • Be a mobile or tablet app or game offering external payments to users in Japan
  • Not target only users under 13 years old
• Developer must be registered as a business.

Requirements

Developers participating in this program must comply with the following requirements:

• Enroll and get approval for your app(s) in the external payments program as defined below.
• Limit external payments to users in Japan.
• Ensure all Play Apps enrolled in this program comply with Play Developer Policies.
• Offer external payment links side-by-side with Google Play Billing through the external payments API.
• Enrolled apps cannot offer external payments and also offer User Choice Billing.
• Integrate with the external payments APIs to report applicable transactions and link users to external payments including calling these APIs so Google can surface the required user experience, enable parental controls, and facilitate transaction reporting.
• Provide customer support for users completing transactions through external payments, and provide a process to dispute unauthorized transactions.
• Offer refund methods for users completing transactions through external payments, unless the user was clearly informed that the transaction is non-refundable before completing the purchase.
• Play store listings must not include information about purchases outside the app to minimize any possible user confusion.
• All external links to external payments must meet the destination requirements as outlined below.
• Pay Google the applicable fees for transactions through external payments which are associated with a Play managed app as outlined in the section below.

Destination requirements

All external payment destinations must meet the following requirements:

• External payment links can only direct users to a payment page to purchase the developer’s own in-app digital features or services once the user has selected the specific digital item in the app.
• The payment page must be located on the developer’s website (shown in a web browser or webview) or a payment app already installed on the user’s device.
• External payment links must inform the user about the destination page and its purpose in the app before linking out.
• External payment URLs must not contain a user’s personally identifiable information without sufficient security / encryption techniques in order to protect the user’s data.
• External payment links must not redirect or mislead users to a different destination page than presented in your external link, or present other false or deceptive information.

Play Service Fees

Like our standard service fees, the fees associated with the external payments program reflect the value provided by Play and support our continued investments across Android and Play. The following fees apply when a user completes any transactions on the developer’s website or a payment app for the developer’s in-app digital features or services within 24 hours of following an external payment link. The fees for these external transactions will be 10% for all auto-renewing subscriptions, 10% for transactions within the first $1M (USD) of total developer earnings annually for eligible developers, and 20% for all other purchases of in-app digital content.

Enroll your app in the external payments program

To enroll in the external payments program, you must complete the following steps:

1. Review the requirements on this page to determine if your app(s) meets all the eligibility criteria.
2. Complete the declaration form, accept the Terms of Service and complete any onboarding steps required to enroll in the program through Google's support team.
3. When available, integrate the external payments APIs in your app for external payments prior to linking users out to purchase your in-app digital features or services.
4. When available, enroll your app(s) that will be using the external payments program through Play Console on the External payments program page (Settings > External payments program).
5. Keep track of all transactions, including $0 transactions resulting from free trial purchases, completed through the external payments program for reporting through the external payments APIs.

Frequently asked questions

Can I utilize external payment links for users in other geographies beyond Japan? Are game developers eligible for this program? Are all developers required to enroll in the external payments program? Is there a limit to the number of external payment links I am allowed to have in my app? Can I make external payment links available for only some of my apps? How can I notify Google of any changes to my app package enrollment selections? What are the steps to integrate with the external payments APIs?