Telefónica Digital, the business division of wireless carrier Telefónica, is teaming with Samsung Electronics to make direct carrier billing easier.

Direct carrier billing allows users to purchase virtual goods and place the cost of that purchase on their monthly phone bill. Samsung will be the first handset maker to integrate directly with Telefónica's substantial billing capabilities using Telefónica Digital BlueVia payment APIs.

Under the new agreement, customers using Samsung Hub and Samsung Apps, two proprietary markets for apps and content, will be able to purchase products such as apps, music and video directly through their devices and charge it to their phone bill or prepaid card.

Direct carrier billing allows consumers to avoid using a debit or credit card to make a purchase and is especially popular with consumers who lack access to traditional financial services.

The agreement applies to both Samsung tablets and mobile devices, and Telefónica said it is committed to making direct carrier billing available for its customers across as many devices and platforms as possible.

"Samsung is committed to ensuring that our customers have choice and convenience when purchasing content on our devices," said Lee Epting, Samsung vice president of media solutions center for Europe. "Our partnership with Telefónica Digital allows us to deliver yet another easy and convenient purchasing experience to our Samsung Hub and Samsung Apps customers."

Direct carrier billing will be rolled out to various Telefónica business units in stages and is expected to start with Telefónica Germany in the next few months. Telefónica has more than 314 million subscribers worldwide.

"We strongly believe that carrier billing has the potential to drive the monetization of digital content,"said Wayne Thorsen, vice president of global partnerships at Telefónica Digital. "Partnerships like this allow us to harness the power of the billing relationships we have with our customers to make it easier for them to consume content on their tablets and mobile devices."

Read more about direct carrier billing.