What Boku Mobile Identity does

Boku, Inc. is a publicly traded payment network company (AIM: BOKU) incorporated in Delaware in 2008 and headquartered in San Francisco, with its principal business office in London. The company provides enterprise merchants with single API access to more than 200 local payment methods (carrier billing, digital wallets, account-to-account schemes, local cards, real-time payment systems, and vouchers) across 70+ countries, reaching an estimated 7B+ consumer payment accounts. Core platform features include multi-factor authentication payment authorisation via mobile device redirect, frictionless merchant-initiated recurring charges, chargeback elimination, payment-linked marketing, and end-to-end cross-border settlement; the company holds FCA (UK) and Central Bank of Ireland regulatory authorisations and, as of June 2026, a select cross-border payment aggregator licence (PA-CB) for India's UPI scheme.

Boku's customers are large global technology and digital entertainment brands - including Netflix, Spotify, DAZN, Epic Games, Google, Meta, Microsoft, Sony, and Tencent - using the platform for subscription billing, digital goods purchases, gaming credits, app store transactions, and recurring one-tap charges. The go-to-market is exclusively direct enterprise API integration with custom engineering implementations and bespoke customer success strategies; there is no self-service or reseller channel. The company reports annual processed payment volume exceeding $9B and monthly active user growth of 475% since 2018.

Revenue is generated primarily through transaction fees on processed payments, supplemented by cross-border money movement settlement fees and professional services revenue from custom engineering implementations. Pricing is not publicly disclosed and is structured around enterprise transaction volumes and bespoke integration requirements. The shareholder base is dominated by institutional investors, with no controlling shareholder; major holders include Octopus Investments (9.66%), Vitruvian Partners (9.16%), and BlackRock (8.62%). The company completed its IPO on the AIM Market of the London Stock Exchange in 2017 and divested its Mobile Identity division to Twilio in 2022 to focus exclusively on the local payments network business.

Name

Boku Mobile Identity

Legal name

Boku, Inc.

Website

https://boku.com

Company type

Public

Founded year

2008

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Boku, Inc. operates a global local payment network providing enterprise merchants with single API access to 200+ local payment methods across 70+ countries, processing over $9 billion annually for tech giants including Netflix, Google, Meta, Microsoft, Sony, and Tencent.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Payment Processing Platform

NAICS

Financial Transactions Processing, Reserve, and Clearinghouse Activities (52232), Financial Transactions Processing, Reserve, and Clearinghouse Activities (522320)

SIC

Finance Services (6199)

akta.pro primary industry

Integrated Payment Processors (PSP/Acquirer) (FSAMABAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

A2A Checkout & Merchant Acceptance Solutions (FSAMAFAF), Bank-to-Bank Transfers & Pay-by-Bank (Consumer & Merchant) (FSAMAFAC), Merchant Cross-Border Collections (Pay-ins) & Local Payment Methods (FSAGAKAD), SME & Business Cross-Border Payments (B2B) (FSAMAIAB)

Keywords

• Local payment methods
• Mobile payment network
• Carrier billing
• Cross-border payments
• Payment API platform

Headquarters

HQ city

San Francisco

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices6 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Payment Processing Fees: Boku earns transaction fees by processing payments between merchants and consumers through its network of local payment methods. The platform handles recurring subscriptions and one-tap purchases with automatic merchant-initiated charges.
2. Cross-border Money Movement: Revenue from facilitating cross-border transactions, including end-to-end transaction processing from consumer payment through to cross-border merchant settlement via licensed infrastructure (e.g., PA-CB license for UPI).
3. Custom Implementation Services: Engineering teams adapt the platform to meet unique merchant implementation requirements, from reverse merchant integrations to bespoke product requirements.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Boku operates a unified local payment network platform that gives global enterprise merchants a single API integration to access more than 200 local payment methods—including carrier billing, digital wallets, account-to-account schemes, bank transfers, real-time payments, vouchers and local cards—across 70+ countries. The platform provides multi-factor authentication to authorize payments, frictionless merchant-initiated recurring charges, chargeback elimination, payment-linked marketing, and licensed cross-border settlement infrastructure reaching 7B+ consumer payment accounts and processing $9B+ annually.

Product overview

Boku is a unified local payment platform that provides a single integration via APIs to access over 200 curated local payment methods. The platform connects global merchants to local payment networks across 70+ countries, offering mobile payment services with multi-factor authentication, frictionless merchant-initiated recurring charges, chargeback prevention, and payment-linked marketing capabilities. The ecosystem includes services for custom implementations, merchant-led network coverage expansion, and individualized performance strategies for enterprise clients. Key products include the Safe and Seamless Mobile Payment Services, Frictionless Merchant-Initiated Charges, No Merchant Chargebacks feature, Payment Linked Marketing and Offers, and Easy API Integration, all supported by professional services for implementation and optimization.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Local Payment Network Unified payment network connecting global merchants to more than 200 local payment methods including carrier billing, digital wallets, banking, local cards, money transfer services, and vouchers across 70+ countries. Sold to enterprise merchants as a single API integration.
• Cross-border UPI Acceptance Cross-border payment acceptance capability for India's Unified Payments Interface (UPI), enabled by Boku's cross-border payment aggregator licence (PA-CB), allowing Boku's global merchants to accept payments from Indian consumers using UPI — one of the world's largest account-to-account payment schemes.
• Custom Implementation Services Engineering services that adapt Boku's payment platform to meet unique merchant implementation requirements, including reverse merchant integrations and bespoke product requirements. Sold to enterprise customers on a project basis.

Quantifiable outcome

• 55M+ newly acquired users in the past 12 months for merchants using Boku's payment network
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers9 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered group auditors, uk legal advisers, financial pr and core network partner.

• PricewaterhouseCoopers LLPgroup auditorsOthersPwC serves as Boku's group auditors, providing external audit services.
• Taylor Wessing LLPuk legal advisersOthersTaylor Wessing LLP provides UK legal advisory services to Boku.
• Headland Consultancyfinancial prOthersHeadland Consultancy provides financial public relations services to Boku.
• Mobile Network Operatorscore network partnerTechnology or IntegrationBoku partners with mobile network operators globally to enable carrier billing payments. Operators include AT&T, Airtel, AIS, and hundreds of telecom providers across 70+ countries.
• Local Payment Method Providerscore network partnerTechnology or IntegrationBoku's network includes partnerships with digital wallet providers (Alipay, GCash, GoPay, Dana, EasyPaisa), banking providers (BLIK, Bancolombia, Faster Payments UK), and other local payment infrastructure enabling account-to-account payments.

Scale indicators15 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• DLocal: DLocal is a cross-border payment processor specializing in emerging markets, providing merchants access to local payment methods in Latin America, Africa, and Asia. Highly comparable to Boku in its focus on local payment method aggregation and cross-border merchant settlement in emerging markets.
• CellPoint Digital: CellPoint Digital is a payment orchestration and optimization platform specializing in local payment methods, alternative payment acceptance, and cross-border settlement for travel, hospitality, and digital goods merchants. Directly comparable to Boku in serving enterprise merchants seeking unified access to local payment methods globally.
• Paymentwall: Paymentwall is a global payment platform providing local payment method coverage, carrier billing, and cross-border processing for digital goods merchants. Comparable to Boku in its focus on alternative/local payment methods and direct carrier billing partnerships with mobile network operators.
• Paysera: Paysera is a fintech providing payment processing, multi-currency accounts, and local payment method acceptance across European and global markets. Comparable to Boku in offering cross-border payment infrastructure and local payment method aggregation for merchants operating internationally.
• Checkout.com: Checkout.com is a global payment processor offering direct acquiring and local payment method acceptance across many of the same markets as Boku. It is a direct competitor for enterprise digital merchants seeking single-API access to local payment methods and recurring billing capabilities.
• Smart2Pay (Mollie): Smart2Pay, now part of Mollie, offers global payment processing with broad local payment method coverage through a single API integration. Directly comparable to Boku in its API-first, multi-method approach to serving merchants expanding into international markets.

Broad incumbents

• Stripe: Stripe is a leading global payment infrastructure platform serving internet businesses with payment processing, local payment methods, and financial services APIs. Comparable to Boku in its API-first approach and continuous expansion of local payment methods, though Stripe serves a much broader customer base from SMBs to large enterprises.
• Worldpay (FIS): Worldpay is one of the largest global merchant acquirers and payment processors, offering local payment method coverage across many of the same markets as Boku. Comparable as a competitor for large enterprise merchants seeking global payment processing, though Worldpay's offering is much broader including card acquiring and POS.
• PayPal (Braintree): PayPal operates a global digital payments network including Braintree, which offers local payment method acceptance and merchant processing APIs. Comparable to Boku as a broad incumbent providing enterprise merchants with cross-border payment infrastructure, though with a much larger consumer wallet base and broader product portfolio.
• Adyen: Adyen is a large, established global payment processor offering unified commerce across online, mobile, and in-store payments. While broader than Boku in scope (card acquiring, POS, and a wider payment method suite), it is comparable in targeting large global merchants with multi-country payment method coverage and a single API model.

Market position

Competitive moat6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/boku-inc

Compliance5 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles12 records

Subsidiaries5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Boku Mobile Identity