%Google ($GOOGL) says it will allow users to pay %Spotify ($SPOT) directly for a subscription to the music streaming app.
Spotify’s alternative billing system will be offered in addition to Google Play payments, the companies announced in a joint news release.
The move is the most significant concession so far from a major mobile app store to allow third-party billing systems inside apps, which has become a major focus for regulators around the world.
Shares of Spotify rose 4.5% in after-hours trading on the news.
Previously, on Google Play and Apple’s ($AAPL) app store, developers couldn’t solicit credit card numbers directly from consumers to bill them for digital goods or services. Instead, they had to bill users through Google or Apple’s systems, which take at least 15%, and as much as 30%, of total sales.
Google called the move a “pilot project” and doesn’t offer a timeline for wide implementation or specify which countries will first get the feature. The announcement suggested that only a small number of app makers will be allowed to offer their own billing to start.
Spotify will still pay a fee to Google for payments it processes on its own, Google confirmed. Google said it would build on a policy that it introduced in South Korea where it continues to take an 11% fee on subscription purchases made through alternative billing, which became required by a recent law passed in the country.
The move also puts pressure on %Apple, which is firmly against third-party billing on its app store for digital goods, and argues that its app store competes with Google Play, especially when it comes to app distribution terms and fees.
Spotify is one of the most important companies to publicly criticize Apple and its app store policies that take a cut of recurring subscriptions. It has filed complaints with the European Union and, last year, a Spotify official told Congress that the fees that it pays to Apple are unfair because Apple doesn’t pay the same fees for its own Apple Music service.