Moreover, people are very reluctant to use cards on the Internet in general there. For example a friend of mine wanted to purchase a domain name for personal use (blog, photos, CV, etc.) but eventually decided not to just because he had to use a card!

Lots of local websites accept SMS payments because of that. I have no idea why people consider it safer. It seems to me that as long as there's a HTTPS connection with a nice certificate (EV or normal) from the issuing company you've heard of you're most likely to be safe.