Rovio creates own micropayments platform

Angry Birds developer Rovio is preparing a proprietary purchasing system to be used with its mobile games.

The Bad Piggy Bank is themed around Angry Birds' porcine villains, and is intended to allow one-click payment for Rovio apps and features.

The service is initially to be launched on Finnish mobile operator Elisa (which boasts 2 million users), and will allow direct charges to customers' monthly phone bills.

Following the launch, players will have the option to pay for the removal of in-game ads from the free to play Android version of Angry Birds - effectively bypassing the Android Market. It remains to be seen if this will be permitted on iOS too.

A worldwide roll-out is planned next year, and Bad Piggy Bank will be expanded to allow a greater variety of in-app purchases.