Digital Transactions Authoritative, insightful and timely information for payments professionals
By Kevin Woodward
San Francisco-based carrier-billing specialist Boku Inc. has bought mobile-payments provider mobileview Italia, Boku announced Thursday.
The deal means Boku will provide carrier billing to more than 87 million mobile-carrier subscribers in Italy. Globally, Boku says its service, which enables consumers to make digital purchases using their wireless bill balances, reaches 4 billion consumers across 67 nations. Boku did not disclose terms of the mobileview Italia deal.
The potential for mobile-carrier payments is significant. Market researcher Ovum Ltd. says global carrier-billing revenue will reach more than $24.7 billion by 2019 in its “Carrier Billing: Global Market Trends and Forecasts” report released earlier this year. Boku says it does not release transaction volume or similar data about its operations.
In the United States, carrier billing trails in the list of funding methods for mobile payments, according to a Federal Reserve study that found only 4% of consumers choose this option, compared with 55% opting for debit cards.
Boku says Italian wireless subscribers will be able to make digital purchases from providers such as Facebook, Spotify, Sony, and Electronic Arts.
“Italy is a strategically important market for carrier billing as mobile penetration is extremely high at more than 158% of the population,” Boku says, “while credit card penetration rests at a relatively low 34%.”
Without a credit card to pay for purchases, many consumers choose carrier billing, Boku says.
In 2014, Boku purchased competitor mopay Inc. Boku launched in 2009 to take advantage of the growing prevalence of social networks and digital gaming.
